Chennai school drops discriminatory fee structure after protests by parents, staff

CHENNAI: After protests by parents, teachers and non-teaching staff, Bala Vidya Mandir at Adyar here on Thursday announced that the school will follow a “uniform fee approach for each and every child.”
“We will abide by the rules and regulations of the fee regulatory committee and follow a uniform fee approach for each and every child,” school’s new principal S Sujata told reporters.
She also clarified that former school principal Srinivasa Raghavan had been transferred and not sacked.
A management-appointed lawyer and representatives of parents met joint director of the state school education department S Karmegam on Thursday. Karmegam advised the school to refund the excess fee collected from the parents and also to reinstate Raghavan as principal.
Meanwhile, parents and staff staged a demonstration in front of the school demanding that management reinstate the ‘sacked’ principal and CEO S S Nathan and cancel the discriminatory fee structure.
Around 600 parents assembled in front of the school on the day the school reopened after the summer vacation. Some students wearing uniforms also arrived. However, none of them entered the school premises.
On Wednesday evening, the parents’ body advised all the parents not to send their wards to school.
The parents were opposing the school management’s proposal that they said discriminated students based on economic criteria. The management had communicated to parents about a proposal to divide the school into two, one that would continue with the present system at the present fee and another that would impart basic education alone as suggested by the CBSE for a fee approved by the committee. Parents were asked to inform their decision on which stream they wanted their wards to be before June 6.
The school had sent a second note that if parents did not inform the management about their choice, it would be construed that they had opted for the economically weaker section criteria fixed by the government committee.