Rosary accounts to be studied

After school says fees hiked to pay higher teacher salaries, education board to verify claim

After nearly two weeks of protests by parents of Rosary School students, Deputy Director of Education Sunil Magar has promised an in-depth look at the hike in fees and appropriate action if anomalies between the school's claims and its account books are found.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Magar said over the next few days a detailed scrutiny of the school's accounts and the salaries paid to teachers will be undertaken. Magar said the decision was taken after marathon meetings on Friday and Saturday that officers of the education board held with the management of Rosary School and the parents.

"The school justified the fee hike saying it took the step because it had to pay teachers the revised salaries. In the Sixth Pay Commission, salaries have been hiked substantially," said Magar. "We have now asked the school to submit to us the previous and current pay scales of teachers along with a list of total students, the previous and the hiked fees, and other accounts details within two days."

Question of proportion
He added that officers from the education board would scan the school accounts to determine if the fee hike was justified and proportionate to the hike in salaries of teachers.

"Parents had complained that the school was hiking fees to purchase computers and other technology upgrades. We have informed the school that it cannot charge students for it," said Magar. "But the school is allowed to hike fees to pay revised salaries, provided it collects only that much more money as is required and not go in for irregular hikes in the name of paying salaries. We will scrutinise the school's claims and if these are found untrue, appropriate and strict action will be taken against the school."

Warje campus relents
The Warje campus of Rosary School rolled back the hiked fees after Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Education Officer Ramchandra Jadhav and Education Committee Chairperson Sangeeta Tiwari intervened.

"On Friday, PMC officials visited the school and spoke to the management. They instructed them to charge fees according to their structure last year. The school agreed," said Ajay Sathe, representative of the newly formed umbrella body of parents of Rosary students.

He added that PMC officials had also given instructions to hold a meeting between PTA members and the school to resolve the fee structure issue so that schools are able to pay hiked salaries to teachers.