Parents at the mercy of CBSE schools as fees go through roof

Private schools had managed to get interim SC order allowing them to fix fee on their own

- N DHAMOTHARAN

NEW bags, books, shoes, uniforms, fees; the list goes on.

For parents of children studying in private schools, the academic year begins on a hectic note, for they have to shell out more, especially towards school fees, as the institutions hike the fees every year. This seems to a problem being faced by parents of students studying in CBSE schools across the state.

Here is a postal department employee who got the shock of his life when a school on Avinashi Road in Coimbatore where his daughter is studying in Class 7 increased the annual fees by ₹50,000 all of a sudden. "The fee for Class 7 was increased from ₹82,000 last year to 1,32,000 this year. When asked, the school authorities just replied it was hiked for the development of school infrastructure and extracurricular activities, but they did not give any details. With no option left, I had to pay the fee from my savings," he said.

Private CBSE schools had managed to get an interim order from Supreme Court, allowing them to fix fee on their own. The state government has not challenged the order for the past eight years.