Parents Rally Against Private School Exploitation in Greater Noida West

Greater Noida: On Sunday, a large number of parents in Greater Noida West protested against the arbitrary practices of private schools at Ek Murti Gol Chakkar. The NCR Parents Association founder, Sukhpal Singh Toor, stated that parents were troubled by the financial and mental exploitation by private schools.

Toor added that the schools are pressurizing parents to buy books, stationery, and other supplies from the school or from a particular shop at exorbitant prices, against the orders of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS). Moreover, the schools are also imposing transport charges and late fees at their discretion.

Parents have been requesting schools to comply with the government's order to refund 15% fees taken during the Corona period, as directed by the High Court. However, schools claim that they have not received any such order. In response, the DIOS issued an order on February 25, 2023, asking schools to comply within a week. Despite this, private schools have not yet obeyed the court or the Uttar Pradesh government's order.

Also read: Parents Threaten to Agitate if Schools Refuse Fee Refund in Greater Noida

In light of this, parents submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate, who also serves as the chairman of the District Level Fee Regulatory Committee (DFRC). The memorandum contained 210 complaints against about two dozen schools.

The parents plan to send a reminder letter to the District Officer, requesting them to take suo motu cognizance of the government's order and organize a meeting of all private schools in the district to record the refund of fees. They also call for an investigation into the sale of books and stationery and strict action against those violating government orders.

Dipankar Kumar, Raj Kumar, Sagar Gupta, Shubhra, Aarti, Himansh Agarwal, Avinash Jha, Mayank Mishra, Pankaj, Rajesh, and others were present at the protest.