Central Academy | Children tortured by School for non payment of Fee

- Central Academy Udaipur locks up children in basement for a day

- Agitated parents protest to Collector

- Unwarranted Fee Hike by Private Schools needs to be addressed by the regulatory authorities

By UdaipurTimes Team Nov 7, 2019, 23:06 IST

Central Academy school students were subjecte to torture by the school management after the parents refused to pay the unwarranted fee hike. Students were locked up in basement on Wednesday after they reached school

Central Academy School, Udaipur is once again in the news for the wrong reasons. Once again, the unwarranted fee increase has led to an altercation between school management and parents of the children studying in the school.

This time however, the school has gone too far - children, whose increased fee was not deposited for the period July till October 2019, were made to stand in the basement of the school as a punishment for non payment of fees. This inhuman behavior by the school management has raised the bar of atrocities against children who are not directly at fault, but are innocently bearing the brunt of the schools inability to resolve the situation.

On Wednesday, 6 November, the school rounded up students who had defaulted in payment, and instead of calling parents and asking for reasons, the school made the children stand in the basement and allegedly locked them up. On receiving information, the agitated parents reached the school in large numbers to protest against this atrocious behaviour by the school management. The altercation went on till late evening.

50 parents approached the Collectors residence in the evening and submitted their complaint. On receiving assurance from the Collector, the parents then approached Bhupalpura Police Station and registered a case of Torture to students, against the management and teachers of Central Academy.

Earlier, in July, when the fees were raised suddenly, the Department of Education office in Udaipur had explicitly confirmed that the raise in fee is unwarranted and against the system. Inspite of this, the childen were made to stand in the basement like prisoners. Parents told the Police that this kind of treatment to children amounts to torture. The fee was increased in July, without prior information. The session had already begun and fees were increased intermittently. In addition to this the case of private schools forcing children to purchase books, stationery and uniform from specified shops was also objected to by the Department.

In July, parents had staged a demonstration outside the Collectorate. This was repeated on Wednesday, after the children were taken to the basement and locked up.

Parents have mentioned in their complaint that the schoo raised the fee by Rs 200-800 which was unwarranted. Further the course books are changed every year, resulting in unwarranted financial burden. The Parents have requested the administration and government to take stern action against schools that are raising fees outside of regulations and forcing purchase of books, stationery and clothes from specified shops.