Panvel school gets warning for segregating fee defaulters

St. Joseph High School, Panvel

Students continue to pay the price for the clash between their parents and schools over the fee hike, with allegations that a Panvel school has segregated all the fee defaulters in separate classes where they are not being taught. After receiving a written complaint from students, the Panvel municipal commissioner said he has issued a final warning to the school.

In a June 19 letter to the municipal chief, Sudhakar Shinde, the students of St. Joseph High School wrote that they were being discriminated against by the management. They alleged that all the fee defaulters had been put in one division, while the paying students were put in another section. While the paying section received notes and timetables, the other students were not taught or given notes.

"Our children are being harassed by the school again and again. All the children whose parents are protesting the fee hike, have been placed in a separate division. My daughter, who is in Std IV now, told me that they did nothing in class the whole day. Any teacher who entered the classroom merely asked them to read tables or a poem and then left. On the other hand, children in the other divisions were given notes and timetables. We are going to take this matter to the child rights commission," said Ravindra Kalambekar, one of the parents.

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PMC chief Shinde said, "I have issued a last warning to the school to shuffle the divisions, or else we will take action as per the Right To Education Act."

As many as 2,000 parents have refused to pay the hiked fees for the 2016-17 session, apart from lodging a complaint with the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee (DFRC).

Manisha Patel, a parent, said, "We have approached the municipal commissioner to resolve the matter, and he asked us to pay Rs 15,000 as fees until the DFRC decision comes, but the school refused to accept that amount."

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On top of that, the school also issued report cards to the students with negative remarks, stating 'problematic parents, not paid fees'.

The other side
"All the children have been attending classes regularly. There hasn't been any discrimination and teaching is proceeding as usual. When a new session begins, there is some amount of shuffling done for students, which is normal and happens in most progressive schools. We have looked into the issues raised by a few parents on the report cards and are resolving the same amicably," said a spokesperson from St. Joseph High School.