There’s a storm brewing over IEM Public School, where parents claim the upcoming session’s fees have been hiked irrationally.
The school has classes from pre-primary to Class V in Salt Lake’s GE Block, near GD Market, while the senior section, till Class XII, is in Sector V’s Ashram Building. This branch had opened in 2015 and follows ICSE curriculum. They also have a CBSE branch in New Town not far from the Biswa Bangla Gate. This branch opened in 2023 and has classes up to Class VI.
Both schools announced examination results on March 8, for which parents went to school and learnt about the new fee structure for the upcoming session.
“The session fee has shot up from Rs 18,000 to 20,000, tuition fee from Rs 6,500 to 9,000 per quarter, and a new quarterly learning and development fee of Rs 1,500 has got added,” said the father of a Class IV student of the GE Block branch. “Why such exorbitant rates?”
“Last year I paid a total of Rs 44,000 which has jumped to Rs 62,000 now. It may be less than other schools but we weren’t prepared for this,” said Anasuya Mitra, mother of a Class III student of GE Block. Parents ought to have been consulted if the school wanted to introduce new guitar and synthesizer classes, and the opinion of the majority taken into consideration before the fees were raised, she argues.
“So long, the yearly hike was at most Rs 1,000 per quarter, never this much,” says the father of another Class IV student. He also wonders why the addition of guitar, AI and synthesiser to extra-curricular activities merits a separate quarterly fee of Rs 1,500. “They already had several extra-curricular activities under the common tuition fee of Rs 6,500.”
About 150 parents tried to meet the principal a few times at GE Block after that, but were denied. “Finally, the headmistress asked to see us two at a time. They sought a list of those who were against the hike, and we’ve done that. We are awaiting their response,” said a father.
The scenario is the same at New Town, where they have been gheraoing the school demanding to meet the principal together. “Till last year, they were teaching skating and other extra-curricular activities for free so why the new charge now?” asked the mother of a Class II girl there. “One of the criteria for selecting a school for our wards was the fee structure, so these new calculations will send our monthly budgets haywire, especially for me as I have two kids in the New Town branch,” said a father.
Officialspeak
Principal of the New Town branch, Chirantan Bhaduri, said the agitation was needless. “In fact, 177 parents out of 320 have already paid the fees. That’s more than half,” he said over the weekend. “Our fees have hardly been hiked before, and so this is reasonable given the facilities we are providing — library, STEM lab, computer lab, robotics lab, air-conditioned classrooms… We are starting courses like musical instruments this year too.”
“Still, considering the sentiment of some parents, we have asked them to mail us by March 28 on whether or not they wish to avail of the extra-curricular activities. If they do, they have to pay the new fees; if not, it may be reduced for them.”
But this, parents feel, would give rise to a division among classmates. “The kids who do not attend music classes would feel deprived watching their friends attend them. They would feel as if their parents could not afford the sessions. It would be heart-breaking,” said Mitra.
Lovely De, the admissions in-charge at Sector V, defended the hike saying they were reasonable for a school with facilities and a brand name like theirs. “We follow the footsteps of our founder Dr Satyajit Chakrabarti (chancellor and founder of IEM-UEM Group, who passed away last year). We have called a parent representative to come and meet us. We shall discuss the issue with them,” she said.
External support
Meanwhile, the parents have reached out to the United Guardians Association (UGA), that is an all-Bengal group working for the welfare of students and their parents. “During the pandemic we had moved court, successfully, for reduction in school fees and have helped do the same in several other schools where fees were being hiked disproportionately,” said the body’s state secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya. “We have held meetings with IEM Public School parents and advised them what they need to do next.”
“As per the state government notification No. 323-SE(Law) dated March 15, 2012 rules, rule 10(15)(g)(xix), fee structure for the students cannot be enhanced without prior permission of the state government,” he quoted. “We will challenge the management with this. We are not against school managements as we place our children in their hands, but for mutual benefit there should be a parent-teacher association where matters like fees should be discussed before being imposed.”
The headmistress of the GE Block school has called the guardians for a meeting on Friday.