ISB fee hike poses dilemma for parents

Manama : The fee counter at the Riffa campus of the Indian School Bahrain (ISB) witnessed heated arguments yesterday regarding the increased fee arrears as the school had revised the fees from the new academic year starting April.

Yesterday was the last day to pay the school fee for this month without fine. Hence the fee counters of Isa Town and Riffa campuses witnessed heavy rush of parents to pay the school fees.

The staff at Riffa school fee counter insisted the parents to pay the extra amount from April, May and June along with the September fee, creating some chaos as most of them were not in agreement with it. 

United Parents Panel (UPP) leaders Rafeeq Abdulla, Abdul Saheer and Progressive Parents Alliance (PPA) leader Anil U.K were on the scene. 

Fee hike in the middle of the academic year, that too effective from April is not acceptable to any parent, UPP coordinator Rafeeq Abdulla said.

The school management has given instructions to the fee counters that “the parents must pay fees from April and they can’t just pay for September alone.”  “The parents were ready to pay the increased fee from September, but not effective from April. Unfortunately, the management is insisting to pay fees from April which is not acceptable at all,” said Rafeeq.  

He said “the management is trying to collect increased fees from maximum parents by force to show the ministry and other officials that parents agree with the fee hike.” 

“After pressure from the parents, the fee counter in Riffa yesterday agreed to accept the fee from September, after which the parents paid the fee. Meanwhile, at the Isa Town campus parents were asked to pay from April. We are surprised to see that each campus has different rules,” Rafeeq Abdulla said.

ISB Chairman Prince S Natarajan told DT News that the revised fee will be effective from April as instructed by the Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education has also given us permission for the revised fee from this academic year, added Natarajan.

“Parents who are facing financial problems can pay the September fee now and the arrears from April can be paid in the subsequent months,” he added.