Chennai: A delay of two hours by the principal of Asan memorial higher secondary school for the hearing on Tuesday by the Singaravelu committee led to interruption of the order which, according to the parents, was supposed to be passed Tuesday for the exorbitant fee hike by the school. Principal Suma Padmanabhan was asked to attend the hearing around 3 pm but she turned up only at 5 pm, when the hearing was almost over. The order is expected on June 29.
The hearing by the Singaravelu committee on the fee hike Rs13,915 to Rs62,000 for pre-primary classes, began Monday. The parents have been protesting for more than two weeks against the hike. Initially, the protest was confined to the UKG fee hike; but now, they are also protesting for the overall fee hike from LKG to plus-two. According to Justice S.R. Singaravelu, the parents have the same issue as that of Bala Vidya Mandir school. He said, “The judgment will come out after two days because we have to consider the facts and base materials on that, and then only we can reach a judgment. It will most probably come out by Monday. The management wanted some time for the judgment.”
According to some parents, on Monday, the management admitted its mistake of overcharging. But the committee said they have made no such admission. The judge said he asked the school to charge fee as fixed by the committee, to this the school said they have consult with their executive committee.
To this, the hudge said, “We may be high, but the law is above us.” He added that the management submitted a letter requesting for higher fees. T. Kishan Kumar, president of the Parent Students Welfare Association, said on June 11 an interim order was passed wherein the school was asked not to charge excess fees.
“Despite the order, the school charged the same and some parents did not know about the interim order. They went on paying the excess fee. We have given an affidavit and we mentioned all this in it.” R. Harinath, secretary to the association, said the school earns around Rs15 crore and told the government it was only Rs 4 crore. Principal Suma Padmanabhan said, “We have just submitted the letter. We are waiting for the order. We don’t want to comment any further.”
