Parents come out in open against fee hike

NEW DELHI: Taking their movement against the fee hike in schools to another level, over 1,000 parents held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Friday. Around 25 parent teacher associations (PTAs) participated in the protest against the schools and Delhi government.

Parents under the Delhi Abhivavak Mahasangh (DAM) banner gathered at Jantar Mantar and marched towards Parliament raising slogans and displaying placards demanding immediate roll back of the fee hike. As the parents broke the first police barricade and then tried forcing their way through the second, the police detained 130 protesters and threatened to use water cannons. They were later released.

According to DCP (New Delhi) Shankar Dash, “The protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar and marched towards Parliament. We had to detain 130 of them before they jumped the second police barricade. They were let off after 90 minutes and no water cannons were used.”

President, All India Parents’ Association, Ashok Agarwal, said, “Schools and the government should take note of the agony of parents who have had to come out on the streets to demand justice. The government has never tried to audit the schools. We have asked parents not to pay anything and in case of any victimisation or pressure tactics by schools, they can contact us and we will provide them with free legal aid.”

Representatives of parents’ associations from Faridabad and Gurgaon also joined the protest with Millennium Parents’ Association (MPA), Faridabad Parents’ Association and Muslim Rastriya Manch (MRM) showing their solidarity. PTAs of schools such as DAV Faridabad and Shalimar Bagh, Ramjas Public School, Heritage School, Rohini, Manavsthali of Rajinder Nagar and Greenfield Public School of Yamuna Vihar among others participated in the protest.

Stating that private schools were commercializing education, Vashisht Kumar Goel, president, MPA, said: “This is a universal problem and we are here to support the agitation of the Delhi parents.”

Protesters said the schools are using pressure tactics to fleece the parents. Sehnaz Afzal, member of MRM, said: “The hike is against social justice and the government is hand-in-glove with the schools’ commercial motives. Education should not be restricted to only one section of society. Parents are so much in distress that they can either feed their children or send them to school.”

The Times of India, 11 April 2009