Karnataka: Private schools will find ways to fleece us, say Parents

Bengaluru: While the academic year has started, parents are worried that the private school managements will find ways to circumvent the recent Karnataka Educational Institution Rule that caps the private school fee hike to 15 per cent. They also fear that school managements will target their wards if they raise a complaint.

According to Priya Nirmal, a techie and a parent of two, the schools have stooped to a level where class teachers are now taking note of children whose parents have approached the authorities to complain about school matters. They punish them in class for unreasonable issues.

“This is being done to suppress any move by parents here as Baldwin group of schools are already under the scanner,” she said.

Baldwin row
The situation at Baldwin institutions have gone from bad to worse as the management is allegedly going all out to ensure that their vendor is supported to clear their stocks, by extracting exorbitant fee from parents.

The parents had earlier approached the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) and the District Education Regulation Authority (DERA) to raise the fee issue and for leaking parents’ data to a private vendor.

“Despite clear instructions from the state government that the school cannot hike the fee more than 15 per cent from the previous academic year, we were asked to pay 20-22 per cent more in terms of tuition fee alone. 

Then came the burden of forcefully asked to pay double the amount for textbooks and uniforms,” said a parent, on condition of anonymity, whose wards are studying in Baldwin Co-Education Extension High School.

KSPCR  order
A DERA official told Deccan Chronicle that the education department has forwarded the recommendations made by the KSCPCR to withdraw the No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Baldwin group affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).

Confirming the same, Deputy Director of Public Instruction for Bengaluru South Ashwath Narayan Gowda said the order would be sent within two days to the management.

Going by the order sent to all three schools of the group  the schools would be considered illegal and then be brought directly under the CISCE.

This can lead to stringent actions including the group likely to lose affiliation as well. However, members of the Baldwin management failed to respond to repeated calls made by Deccan Chronicle for a clarification on the issue.