After protesting the sudden hike in the price of school books and uniforms on Monday, parents of children at Paramount International School in Sector 23, Dwarka, were back again at the school today to raise their voice against this unfair practice.
A notice at the school gate sparked this second protest. According to the protesting parents, the notice just gave them a waiver of Rs 1,800 and a 5 per cent discount, and addressed none of the issues they had been raising their voice against.
The notice stuck on the school gates this morning
Rinki Kumar, a parent, said, “There was no mention of any discount or waiver on the price of school uniforms, which the school management was supposed to decide upon on Monday evening."
The police had to be called in, such was the angst of parents. Despite a meeting with the school management, they were not mollified.
Parents were livid that the school had almost made it a compulsion to buy the books from it, and that they were levying such high charges on them.
A few parents who were about to get their children admitted to the school even decided to withdraw admission. They said that the charges were exorbitant and much higher than other schools.
One parent, who was about to get his ward admitted to kindergarten, was shocked after being handed a bill of Rs 7,800 for school books. He told City Spidey, "What kind of books will a child in kindergarten need that will cost Rs 7,800? Besides, there are other charges I don't agree with at all. And such chaos on the very first day of school! I have changed my decision to get my child admitted to this school.”
The book bill for a kindergarten class
Parents, who are still awaiting the school's decision on the price of uniforms, said the school had conveniently not addressed it at all.
Ruby Jha, a parent, said that after spending a whopping Rs 20,000 on uniforms for her two kids, the school now wanted fresh uniforms. “How is it possible for parents to spend so much? The school should either keep the old uniforms or refund the money that we spent,” she said.
