Mid-Day: Mumbai: Monday, November 17, 2014.
Final notice
sent to St Mary’s School, Mazgaon, asking it to return Rs 1.45 cr it had taken
from parents under various categories that essentially amount to capitation
fees.
More than a
year after the Bombay High Court gave clear instructions to the management of
St Mary’s (SSC) High School in Mazgaon to return Rs 1.45 crore to parents of
many students who have studied or are currently in the school, parents have
some hope of getting hold of the money.
In 2012,
mid-day had reported about the issue of the school asking for capitation fees.
Now, the school education department has sent a final notice to the school
management as well as the south zone education inspector to ensure that the
money is returned to parents at the earliest.
“The notice
has reached the school as well as my department. It clearly states that the
school has to return this money to parents through electronic clearing system
(ECS) for the benefit of children and my department will be supervising this
transfer of money to parents,” said B B Chavan, south zone education inspector.
He added that
despite a court order, the school had not adhered to the same, but this time
the education department will ensure that the order is followed.
The case
first came to light in 2008, when a parent filed an RTI application to find out
why the school was charging a bulk amount in fees. The information obtained
revealed that various heads under which the school was charging fees all
amounted to capitation fees.
This case was
dragged to the state education chairman, who called for a hearing in his office
in Pune. In 2012, the education department stated in their reply that the
school was indeed charging capitation fees and had to return Rs 1.45 crore to
parents.
“We were
paying in the name of activity fees, development fees, PTA membership fees,
etc, and all the money charged under these heads was going into the pockets of
the school management officials. Till date the school hasn’t managed to provide
separate toilets on each floor for the students. We want our money back,” said
one of the parents whose son used to study in the school till 2012.
The
management has always maintained that the money collected from parents was
utilised for the betterment of students. “We have submitted our records to the
auditors, and they have given us a clean chit. We understand that the court has
given an order, and we will see how best to adhere to this new circular,” said
Fr Francis Swamy, a member of the school management.
How it
started:
The collection of unlawful fees came to light four years ago when a
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) member filed an RTI query, enquiring about the
structure of fees at the school. Nanasaheb Kute Patil, the PTA member and
parent of a then-student, had told mid-day, “I want back the money that the
school took from me in the form of activity fees, computer fees, PTA membership
fees. The school collected this whole amount from the secondary school
students.”
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