Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 2: Up in arms against dilly dally approach of the Government authorities towards alleged harassment of the students by the managements of various schools for enhanced fee, a number of aggrieved parents held a strong protest demonstration near the Press Club Jammu, here today.
The protest was organized under the banner of Parents Association of J&K for highlighting the issue of fee hike by some schools without obtaining the approval from the Fee Fixation Committee (FFC). The protesting parents alleged that FFC was also adopting double standards in fixing the Fee structure of many schools for their own financial benefits.
President of the Association, Amit Kapoor criticized the Govt authorities for giving ample time to the private school managements to approach the Supreme Court of India to get the J&K High Court Order dated 18.03.2019 stayed, vide which the High Court had directed the private schools to refund the excess fee along with interest @ 9% pa.
He further questioned the mode of ascertaining the fee structure for different schools and demanded that the yardsticks adopted for the said purpose should be made public so that the parents can also keep an eye on the terms and conditions on which fee structure was approved and what facilities are being provided to the students in their holistic growth.
The Association made a strong appeal to all the school managements of the private schools of the State that after getting approval from the FFC, they should not pressurize the parents to pay whole of the previous months fee in one go. Majority of the parents demanded that from the date of approval sought from the FFC, schools may collect the fee from that month only and regarding previous months fees, the adjustments should be made after the final verdict of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of refund of fees.
Amit Kapoor appealed to the newly posted DC Jammu for her personal intervention in this regard and hoped that this young officer would certainly do something favorable for the aggrieved parents of the private school students.
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