Association of Unaided CBSE Schools cite increasing operation cost for the hike in school fees annually .
Indore : Even as parents are protesting against the hike in fees by CBSE schools here, Association of Unaided CBSE Schools citing increasing operations cost said that they have to hike the fees annually even when they do not wish to.
“Operation cost is increasing every day, so we have to hike 12-15 per cent fees every academic year so that we can continue to provide the best of facilities and quality teaching to our students,” association president Anil Dhupar said in a press note issued here.
He said that if the CBSE schools won’t hike fees then they would not be able to meet their expenses, which are on rise.
“We are already paying six pay scale to our teaching and non-teaching staff along with 112 per cent dearness allowance. From next year, the government would implement seventh pay scale which would increase the salary of school staffers by 30 to 40 per cent. Apart from this, we have to pay various taxes including service tax of Rs 15 per cent on bus facilities. Also, the constructions material cost is also increasing every year,” Dhupar said adding that this burden would obviously come on the parents.
“If parents want to enrol their children to schools of excellence then they must be ready to pay the increased fee,” Dhupar said.
He said that if the parents want to raise the issue of fee hike they should raise it with the government and not with the schools so that they are given rebate on construction materials, land and other services. “If the government would give us rebate then fees would automatically come down,” he added.
Send wards to govt schools: Assn
The association stated that the parents want their wards to get the best of education that’s the reason they are admitting their children to CBSE schools. “Why don’t the parents send their wards to government schools if they are not ready to shell out much on the education of their children?” Dhupar asked replying in the same vein, “The parents won’t do that because they want quality education for their wards.”
The association also claimed that the parents of children studying in private schools must bear the school fees of students admitted under the Right to Education Act (RTE). “The school has to bear fees of the RTE students, and that is compensated by the fee charged from the parents, and hence fee hike is necessary,” Dhupar said.
