DPS fee hike: Won’t let go, say parents
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DPS fee hike: Won’t let go, say parents

Parents organised a dharna in front of the Noida Sec 132 school, saying they will protest every day till the hike is rolled back.

DPS fee hike: Won’t let go, say parents

It seems parents of children studying in Delhi Public School, Sector 132, Noida, are in no mood to give up the protest against the school fee hike.

About 60 parents gathered with banners and posters, shouting slogans against the school, as they sat on a dharna, or sit-in, in front of the school on Monday. The dharna began at 8 am and continued till 4 pm.

Ambhuj Saxena, one of the parents, told City Spidey, “We have decided to continue our protest until the school management rolls back the fee hike. We will come and sit here every day.” 

Parents are angry because the school raised its fee by 42 per cent in the past three years. The school charges money under three heads: annual fee, tuition fee and smart class fee. Since the beginning of the first session (2012-13), the annual fee has been hiked from Rs 19,020 to Rs 27,000. The tuition fee, which is charged quarterly, has been increased from Rs 14,400 to Rs 20,211. Smart class fee has been increased from Rs 2,700 to Rs 3,789 per quarter. Smart class fee covers the use of smart boards and modern gadgets for teaching.

Sanjay Pathak, another parent, said, “There is a complete lack of infrastructure in the school. The swimming pool is not ready and the playground is just an empty field. The extension of the school building is still under construction.”

When City Spidey contacted the school management, they refused to comment.

Parents began protesting the fee hike at the beginning of the current academic session. In the earlier protests, parents had met Bacchu Singh, city magistrate, and Vimla Batham, MLA of Gautam Budh Nagar, seeking intervention on the issue. Batham had assured them that she would look into the matter and had met Smriti Irani, the HRD minister, to talk about the issue.