K Ramanathan Iyer
At this time of economic meltdown when jobs are being shed and salary cut becomes the norm of the day, educational institutions in and around Chennai are making merry by steeply increasing the admission and term fees from 20-30 per cent.
While the state government turning a deaf ear to the public outcry over the unprecedented rise in school fees, parents are feeling the pressure. As Chennai is known for its dubious distinction of being one of the costliest cities in India, education, health care and hospitality sectors were considered to be the best bargain among all cities. But things have changed over the past two years now, thanks to the IT boom in this southern metropolis.
Coming back to the education alone, school managements of various leading schools have increased the fees thinking that education is an "essential" one and people have to pay if they want 'quality" education. What kind of quality they are talking about in imparting the knowledge to the kids is something to be debated.
For example, in Chainmaya Vidyalaya, the chain of schools run by the Chinmaya Mission based in Mumbai, an across the board increase of 33 in term fees has been announced for the next academic session. My son is studying in the school and I know their standard of education.
To my surprise, the trust has asked the parents seeking admission for their wards in LKG a donation of Rs 25,000 this year. They have also changed the policy of giving admission to the sibling though the management denied that there was any such policy shift. But I myself was the victim last year as my second son was denied admission in the first standard though my elder son was studying in sixth.
This year too around 25 parents were denied admission for their wards in LKG though their siblings were studying in the same school. My friend, who is working in a leading news paper in Chennai, was fuming that when the management told him that his son was not selected as he did poorly in the interview. His daughter is studying in 1st standard in the same school. What ridiculous? According to SC ruling no kindergarten children should be subjected to interview but these schools are freely floating the rules and fleecing the gullible parents.
In Velammal School where my sister is teaching told me this stunner. When the management was asked by the teachers about the proposed fee hike citing the increasing job cuts in IT and other sectors, the reaction was shocking. “As ours is the essential one, people will have no option but to pay the fee we quote,” was the answer given by the management.
The school has A-Z section for KG alone and has now expanded the sections to A1, A2 etc with each class having the student strength of 40. It’s a huge money making business for these institutions in the name of imparting knowledge.
The school is proposed to have a 30 per cent hike in school fee. To meet the increased kids strength, the school is plying buses in all directions and even picking up children even 15 km away. What a pity? An LKG kid has to travel for about one hour to reach his/her school? According the CBSE norm schools should serve the kids in and around 5 km radius. Again a clear case of floating of rules by the school. Another popular school DAV in Anna Nagar has announced an increase of 20 % hike in fee for the next session.
As KVs becoming out of reach for commoners due to preference being given to defence and government personnel only, general public look for private schools for their kids admission and these schools using their haplessness to their full favour.
If you argue that the recession and price rise have also affected these schools and how would they pay salaries and meet the running cost? It’s better to ask the teachers themselves. Their salaries are pathetic, they are forced to sit after school hours by the management for preparing charts and other school events, no proper pay revision and exploitation to the hilt and basic amenities that these schools provide to students are far from adequate.
With high-fly international schools like Sheram Academy, Pon Vidyashram, newly started Chennai Public School and Sparten (all CBSE) schools charging not less than Rs 50,000 as admission fees for LKG, parents in Chennai are now caught up between the devil and the deep sea.
