December 27, 2011

Poor quake at English hurdle to RTE

Sugandha Pathak, New Delhi, Dec 26, DHNS:
Filling the forms proves an obstacle to admitting their kids to top schools, forms are not in vernacular
Parents who want to admit their children to top private schools under the Right to Edution (RTE) face a hurdle right at the start: Admission forms in English that don't make sense to them.

“I want my child to study in a reputed school but the admission forms of most top schools are in English. The applications of some of the schools run into four to five pages and if all that is written in English, that is a worry. I will end up putting my child in a small school. Delhi Public School, Heritage, G.D Goenka etc have their forms in English,” said Abdul Sattar, a hawker who sells readymadeclothes.
Sattar has studied till standard 8 and can read and write in Hindi. He is trying to admit his four-year-old child to a nursery class in a top school for the next academic year. On paper, at least, the RTE law makes this possible, as it is mandatory for all schools to ensure that 25 per cent of the admissions are from the Economically Weaker Sectio,(EWS).

Sattar and his wife are trying to get someone who knows English to fill the forms.
But they worry that an error in the application might ruin the prospect of their child's admission. According to them, there are a few schools which have admission forms in Hindi, but they are mostly smaller schools.

An NGO, Social Jurist, working on education-related concerns, wrote recently to the Directorate of Education suggesting a Common Application Form in Hindi for admission under the freeship quota.

“The Common Admission Form are in English. Most of the parents belonging to EWS-Disadvantaged Group (DG) category do not read, write or understand English.

Therefore, to make the EWS admissions effective and purposeful, it is necessary that the DoE make available Hindi (Vernacular) version of of the Common Admission Form, for admission under EWS and DG in terms of the provisions of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act, 2009) on its website immediately,” said advocate Ashok Agarwal, advisor, Social Jurist.

Khagesh Jha, an advocate and a member of the organisation, said the issue was raised at a meeting on Monday with officials at the DoE. “They have not given us any substantial response to our concern. As per the nursery admission guidelines there is no rule on giving out forms in Hindi. Some schools in the city are doing it by themselves,” he said.

December 26, 2011

Pros and Cons of reservation in schools for economically backward

With schools having to reserve 25% of their seats for economically backward students from the next academic year, the poor kids will get an opportunity to study in elite schools. Puja Pednekar weighs the pros and cons.

Ten-year-old Rahul Waghmare trudges to a civic school in Andheri every day. He wants to design automobiles when he grows up. But now, he dreams of studying in a posh school.
However, he can’t afford to. His mother and sister work as domestic helps and just about manage to make ends meet.

“My school is in a bad shape. The teachers are absent most of the time and lessons are not taken seriously. I have always wanted to study in a big school,” he said.

His dream might be a reality next year.

From the next academic year, all schools - even the most elite ones — will have to reserve 25% seats for underprivileged children between the ages of 6 and 14.

This is one of the sections of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, introduced in 2009, which will be implemented from next year in the state.
“Such a move will mean that even a deprived child from Dharavi will be able to study in an elite school in the city. These students will get free education till class 8. The state government will pay part of their fees while the rest will have to be borne by the school management,” said a senior education official.

The reservation will give underprivileged students access to good education, say educationists who have welcomed the move.
“In a country where literacy levels are low and good quality education is not affordable to many, the move is the need of the hour,” said Basanti Roy, former divisional secretary of the state board.
The scheme will help create equal opportunity for students irrespective of their economic backgrounds, she added.

Although Jayant Jain, president Forum for Fairness in Education, welcomes the move, he is worried for the child after the freeship is over.

“The government will pay his/her fees only till class 8. What will happen to the child after that? The child will be left in the lurch as he would not be able to afford studying in that school once the free education is over. The government should cover a child’s education till class 10 at least,” Jain said.
Schools have their own set of worries after the law is enforced.
They say that such a reservation will change classroom dynamics culturally, socially and economically. They will need to pay extra attention to these students.

“When an underprivileged child studies in a big school with peers who are financially better than them, it might lead to negative feelings and the child might feel let down,” said Vandana Lulla, director, principal of Podar International School, Santa Cruz.

“Also, other children will not know how to mingle with them. Schools need to organise sensitisation programmes for students on how to behave so as not to hurt each other’s sentiments.”
Rohit Bhat, principal of Children’s Academy, Malad, agreed that schools will need a mechanism to assess these children. “We need to know whether the underprivileged children will be able to cope with the curriculum. Teachers will need to work hard with such students through remedials. It will be a tough task,” he said.

The state government will reimburse the schools an amount equal to either the fees charged by the school or the per child expenditure in state schools, whichever is lower.
But, schools are apprehensive whether the move would be economically viable for them. They, instead, want a public-private partnership that will provide education to the deprived children.
“Instead of reserving seats, the government should strengthen the public-private partnership model by allowing schools to adopt municipal schools, send their own qualified teachers to the civic schools and allow students to use their infrastructure,” said Sudeshna Chatterjee, principal of Jamnabai Narsee School, Vile Parle (West).

Parents are worried that the fee burden will fall on the rest of the students.

“Even though the government pays part of the fees of such children, the schools will get an excuse to hike fees saying that they have to cover up for these children.This will make the education system more lopsided and unfair,” said Anita Nagwekar, a parent whose son studies in a school at Andheri.
Several states across the country have already started implementing the reservation.

But Maharashtra came out with its rule book for implementing the RTE in 2011 and will make the 25% reservation clause binding on all schools from the next academic year.

“The RTE is delayed in the state because we are waiting for the Supreme Court decision on the reservation. Some private schools had taken the matter to the court. We cannot implement it until we get a judgment from the court. So by next year, it will fall in place,” said a senior education official.

December 25, 2011

Where motive is profit, education takes a back seat

Formally allowing ‘for-profit' institutions to operate schools will deepen the systemic inequity along economic fault lines.

Section 12 of the Right to Education Act, 2009, which enforces a private-public partnership by reserving 25 per cent seats for the economically backward living in the vicinity of a private school, is a major source of anxiety for these institutions. Private trusts and managements fret about eroding autonomy, while parents in elite schools question the high fees in institutions that have lost the right to exclude. This opposition, driven by the middle class, seeks to defend its privileged and rarefied education system from encroachments, which were the initial trigger for the private school movement in India.

Modelled on the British public schools, the early private schools of the pre-independence era, such as Bishop Cotton School and the Lawrence Schools, educated children of English officers and scions of the most privileged Indian families. Schools aided by the government were intended to produce lettered civil servants. In the decades preceding independence, prominent Indian institutions such as the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the Delhi Public School Society focussed on developing leaders with an Indian ethos. Over the decades, these schools provided free India with its first bureaucrats and administrators.

Post-independence, democracy universalised education, which until then had been a privilege, signalled by increased enrolments across all demographic profiles. The exodus of the middle class from government to private schools that flourished through the 1960s and 1970s was an acknowledgement of a middle class elitism that was clearly discomfited by the blurring class and caste lines in the classroom. Largely controlled by the upper castes, these private schools were avowedly secular but reinforced caste divisions. Established by non-profit organisations mostly in metropolitan areas, they further distanced the rural-urban educational experience. The mushrooming of lower-end “budget” schools in the last two decades, accounting for 60 per cent of urban enrolment growth in primary education between 1986 and 1993, was a market response to the rising clamour for English education from an aspiring, upwardly mobile lower middle class which did not have the means to send its children to more exclusive private schools.

By default, government schools became synonymous with mass education and were increasingly apportioned to the lower castes and Dalits who aspired to be educated. By the 1980s, because of defunding and slackening civic pressure, the system had collapsed and was marked by low teacher morale, high dropout rates, and rampant absenteeism among both students and teachers.

Over the past 30 years, this deep divide between the two systems has fostered two distinctive streams of education and thereby two exclusive educational and life experiences. The alternative private schooling system has contributed to a social transformation by creating an educated middle class that values economic growth but not social cohesion; that acknowledges education as a critical resource but endorses the marginalisation of groups based on financial status; and that has a sense of entitlement but does not actively advocate universalisation of education.

While the continued existence of private schools is an indictment of the government, in that it has failed to respond to the educational needs of its children, it has also legitimated an attitude that allows the privileged to dissociate themselves from the educational needs of the larger society. With all its shortcomings, which have been extensively documented, the RtE should be commended for trying to bridge the chasm by building on the bedrock of inclusion.

The push by the RtE to re-engage with private schools and re-integrate them into the Indian educational mainstream is an acknowledgement that the market cannot be trusted to deliver education with any degree of equity. To bring in additional resources, the 2010-11 Mid-Year Plan Review advocates deletion of the crucial stipulation that only non-profit educational trusts and charities may operate private schools. More recently, some educational trusts are alleged to be fronts for ‘for-profit' organisations that siphon off the profits, ploughing back little into improving infrastructure and teacher expertise. Formally allowing ‘for-profit' institutions to operate schools, even as they enjoy land, tax and infrastructure concessions, will merely legitimise this profiteering and deepen the systemic inequity along economic fault lines. If taken to its logical end, this could well kill the spirit of the RtE and the Directive Principles enshrined in our Constitution. Experience, national and international, tells us that private players in elementary education foster neither inclusiveness nor equity.

Education is a legal, collective and moral entitlement. When the middle class undertakes to share in this responsibility and ends its apathy to mass education, it may have earned the privilege of a private schooling system. In the process, government schools, responding to a more demanding constituency, are more likely to effectively meet the needs of not just the poor and the marginalised but of society at large.

(Hema Ramanathan is Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Scholar, 2011-12, and Associate Professor, University of West Georgia. Her email ID is: hramanat@gmail.com and Parvathy's ID is: parvathy_pb@ hotmail.com)

December 14, 2011

School 'asks' 840 students to buy iPads

Mumbai:  We moved from blackboards to interactive boards and from there to laptops and now, it is the iPad2. - Vandana Lulla, Director, Podar International School

The government may be patting itself on the back for creating the world's cheapest, Android-based tablet Aakash at not more than Rs. 3,000, but the homegrown gizmo is clearly not the Apple of this posh city school's eye.

The middle and high school education at Podar International School in Santacruz seems ready to integrate Steve Jobs' legacy in daily learning. In a recent circular dated December 9, the school management informed parents that it has decided to introduce iPad2 in classrooms from the next academic year. While some parents welcomed the move, others feel the fancy tablet is not feasible for children.

The second edition of the iPad, which costs Rs. 40,000, is being introduced for the 840 students of Standard VI to XII. But, says director and principal of the school Vandana Lulla, the tablet is not mandatory. The school's circular, however, mentions no alternative for parents who are not entirely sold on the idea, activists point out (see box).

The circular states, "We are pleased to announce that the decision taken by the school management of using Apple iPad2 in the classroom by the students has been welcomed by the parent community. Parents now have the choice of either purchasing the iPad2 from the school on an outright basis or avail of a finance scheme on offer. You also need to indicate if the iPad2 will be purchased by you on your own. You are requested to mark your choice... to take further steps to initiate the process and negotiate the bulk order purchase."

But officials said that wards of parents who do not wish to buy it would have the option of learning on interactive boards that will continue to be used after the iPads are introduced. Those in favour of the idea can buy it on an EMI of Rs. 1,400 or on their own.

iDoubtSome parents have their reservations about the concept. K Mahesh (name changed), a parent of a pupil at Podar School, said, "I was a student once and I know what education is. If you change the syllabus, that is digestible. But if you change the system with some weird logic, it is problematic. I want my kid to follow the existing method of education that millions in this country are following, and setting a benchmark for others. I am not against the use of iPad. But I do no find it feasible for my kid."

Another parent, Sushma Shah (name changed), said, "I use an iPad and I know how difficult it is to handle."

Others argue the opposite. Tannu Kewalramani, PTA chairperson, Podar International School, said, "In a meeting last month, we were given a glimpse of how the iPad2 works and student reviews on it were mostly favourable. Introducing it is a good concept and a majority of parents are ready for it.

"When we use modern technology for even household chores, why not use it in education? As it is, students are more familiar with gadgets than we are."   

Principal speaks Lulla said, "After observing how gadget-savvy students have become and how they are familiar with iPads, I took the initiative to introduce the iPad2. It will help students to retain the content. They can download as many textbooks as they want. Further, a research by a laptop manufacturing company concluded that more use of technology has improved the performance of students in subjects like Biology, Chemistry, History, and Earth Science."
But why the iPad? "Because of two reasons. One, we have a parent working for Apple and, two, the iPad2 has the best applications," Lulla said. "We moved from blackboards to interactive boards and from there to laptops and now, it is the iPad2."

She continued, "The games application will be blocked in school when a child enters with the iPad2. After we took the decision to bring in the iPad2 earlier this year, we provided training to all our teachers, including me."

Acknowledging that a few are not in favour, Lulla said, "There are only 5-10 per cent of parents who do not want the iPad2. It is not mandatory and children of parents who do not buy it can learn from interactive boards." 

Expert saysJayant Jain, president of Forum For Fairness in Education and All India Federation of Parent Teacher Association, said, "If the school is so keen to bring in technology, parents should be given a choice to buy any company's tablet. But nowhere did the circular mention this. Nor did it say that parents who do not wish to buy their child an iPad2 could learn from interactive boards. This implies that it is mandatory for all. Also, the parent will have to bear the cost if the child drops and damages the expensive gadget. They are in a learning process, so why can't they be given cheaper tablets which can be updated by the school."

NumbersOn an average, there are 30 students in one class in Podar and each class has four divisions. As such, there are approximately 840 students in the school from grade VI to XII.

December 11, 2011

School shuts for a day as parents protest high fee

CHENNAI: A face-off between a city school and parents took an ugly turn on Wednesday when the institution remained closed after the Muharram holiday. While the management said this was because teachers were boycotting classes, parents said the latter had tried to coerce them to pay a fee higher than that proposed by the government-appointed fee determination committee.

The management of Alagappa Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Purasawalkam informed parents on Monday afternoon that it would be closed on Wednesday. An SMS communication to parents said, "As a result of the ill-treatment of teachers by a group of parents obstructing the entrance at the school, teachers are abstaining from conducting classes. They have expressed dissatisfaction with regard to their personal safety. The management is actively working to resolve these issues. Meanwhile, the school will not function for all students on Wednesday." Teachers complained that parents had abused them.

Parents said teachers refused to go inside the classes on Monday, and even after they did, they refused to take classes and instead went about their own work. When parents complained about this to the director of matriculation schools, the school management was asked to behave.

Later that day, parents were informed about the closure. Some parents turned up at the school on Wednesday morning. Finding the gate closed, around 150 parents and 30 students went to the directorate of matriculation schools and lodged a complaint.

Head of the student-parents welfare association of the school G Ramalingam said, "The management wants to divert the focus from the fee issue and is making a new allegation against parents."

The chairman of the fee committee had recommended that the director of matriculation schools issue a show-cause notice to the school asking why it should not be disaffiliated. He said the school had continued to ignore the directive of the committee to abide by the fee structure.

As a result of this, students who began the academic term late have lost two days. While Thursday has been declared a holiday for Karthigai Deepam, parents hoped the school would reopen on Friday.

Delhi schools to hike fee, parents anxious

Tuesday, December 23, 2008, (New Delhi)
Delhi schools continue to give the city sleepless nights. For those whose kids are in good schools, there is a bad news -- the schools want a whopping 30-40 per cent increase in fees by the end of this week.
Parents like Pranjali is getting ready to pay a whole lot more for her children's education. Her son and daughter both attend Modern School, which charges Rs 20,000 per month. And soon, that amount is likely to climb by at least Rs 6,000.

"It is going to be difficult. We have to see from where exactly the money would come? It's so much a burden for a single earner in the family. I can't even get a job at the age of 40.So we have to cut down vacation and outings in the weekend," she said.

All schools in Delhi are expected to announce a substantial hike in fees this week. The Sixth Pay Commission suggested a 50 per cent raise for schoolteachers. A Delhi government committee has been considering that proposal and will give its decision before Friday.

A lot of schools like KR Mangalam World School and Tagore International have already intimated parents about an expected hike in the fee without even getting it approved from the government.

The committee is likely to allow a fee hike of 30-40 per cent. But schools want more.

"This hike will not be enough to pay salaries to teachers. We also have to pay them their arrears since April 2006. Where do we pay them from? The new fees will apply retroactively from September this year," said R C Shekhar, Principal, Gyan Bharati School.

"They should hike it from next year so we also get some time to plan our budget. If this happens, we might have to pull out our children from expensive school to a cheaper one," said Hema Aggarwal, a parent. But that's unlikely to be the consensus in a city where good schools are on every parent's wishlist.

School fee hike: Absence of clear law fuels confusion

MUMBAI: A debate on school fees has been raging in the city for the past few years, with parents protesting against steep hikes and school administrations arguing for them citing rising salaries and expenses. Educationists and parents complain the absence of a clear law on fee regulation has added to the all-round confusion.

After a prolonged period of deliberation, the state government finally began releasing a series of government resolutions (GRs) in late 2010 to implement the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (regulation of collection of fee) Bill, 2011. But on every occasion its instructions were challenged in courts either by private unaided schools or parents.

"Rules mandate that we get the PTA's approval before hiking fees. At the same time, another rule asks us to pay our teachers as per the Sixth Pay Commission and pay them arrears for the past few years," asked Lalitha Hariharan, principal of Rizvi Springfield High School in Bandra (West). "In such a situation, how are schools supposed to generate money?" Many principals said that with no other source of income, schools have to depend on fees to make ends meet.

Over the last two years, there have been many instances where parents protested against schools hiking fees. "It's not just once or twice but time and again. The same schools have been pulled up for increasing their fees. Most times parents are helpless because the schools threaten to expel their children. How is it that the government is not taking any action against such schools?" said Arundhati Chavan, president of the Parent-Teachers' Association United Forum.

"The education department has shown no seriousness in this matter. For years, it caved in to bullying by schools," said Jayant Jain, president of the Forum for Fairness in Education.

Jain argued that after filing a PIL against 19 International Baccalaureate (IB) schools last year, the education department did not follow the order given by the Bombay high court. "The court had asked for balance sheets of all 19 schools but the state could only provide three balance sheets. Those documents showed how IB schools make crores in profits every year," he said. Jain said that his forum would file a fresh PIL next week against 50 schools for charging capitation fees and for commercialisation of education.

Rs 10L tag for Juhu school readmission

MUMBAI: Feuds between schools and parents over fees are turning increasingly bitter . A woman whose two children study at Ecole Mondiale World School at Juhu had to readmit them there in August after their names were struck off the roll for late payment of fees. In the bargain, she had to pay an additional Rs 10 lakh-about Rs 3.8 lakh more due to a revision in the fees, and a one-time payment of around Rs 6.5 lakh.

The parent admits that the cheque she wrote reached the school late but blames it on a misunderstanding . What upset her is that Ecole Mondiale did not inform her about its decision to remove her 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter. Also , she says, it failed to provide her a copy of the school's policies and the contact details of the trustees .

Woman accuses school of 'expelling' kids without warning

Shaina Malhotra (name changed) says she was annually paying about Rs 20 lakh as fees for her two children before they were struck off the roll of Ecole Mondiale World School over late payment of fees. "This time, in the name of readmitting my children, I was asked to shell out close to Rs 30 lakh," she says.

Ecole Mondiale says it sent two reminders to Malhotra about the pending fees and tried calling her but her phone was unavailable. Subsequently , with no response, the school deleted the two pupils' names from their roll.

"If she accepted the readmission then (in August), why is she protesting now? Besides, all parents get copies of school policies at the time of admission, so why these complaints?" says Mahesh Gupta, manager, Ecole Mondiale .
"She has been threatening us to refund the fee differential or face the music."

The saga began on June 1 this year, when the school broke for vacation. The date was also the deadline for the payment of fees for the academic year commencing August 1. Malhotra, who is an NRI and shuttles between homes in London and Mumbai , says she sent a cheque through her office here before she left for London. "But due to some miscommunication , the cheque reached the school 18 days late. And without informing me about their action, my children's names were not considered for the academic year," she says.

On August 1, when the children went back to school after their return from London , they found their names deleted. With little choices left, Malhotra readmitted the children in Ecole Mondiale.

But the difference in fee numbers was significant. While she was earlier paying Rs 10.58 lakh and Rs 8.98 lakh as her daughter and son's fee respectively, this time she had to fork out Rs 11.68 lakh per child. She also had to give Rs 3.15 lakh per child as onetime admission charge besides Rs 12,000 as application form fees. In all, that is a difference of around Rs 10 lakh.

READING THE LAW
The state has formulated and, it says, implemented the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (regulation of collection of fee) Bill, 2011, though the president's approval is still awaited

Under this law, schools have to get their fee structure approved by the education department after submitting their balance sheets. The fees cannot exceed the amount authorized

Approval of Parent-Teachers Associations (PTA) is needed before a hike in school fees. If a PTA fails to agree on it within the stipulated time, the school is allowed to collect the fee of the previous year plus a 15% hike The factors to be considered while computing fees include available infrastructure, facilities provided, expenditure on administration and maintenance, yearly salaries, etc

December 9, 2011

Bill to regulate IB school fees awaits President's nod

MUMBAI: The state government on Wednesday informed the Bombay high court that presidential assent is awaited on a bill that will regulate fees of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools.

A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan Dalvi was hearing a PIL filed by the Forum for Fairness in Education contending that international schools are charging students heavily, thereby violating provisions of the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Capitation Fees) Act 1987.

Among the schools named in the petition are Aditya Birla World Academy at Tardeo, B D Somani International School at Cuffe Parade, Garodia International School at Ghatkopar, Pawar Public School at Bhandup, Dhirubhai Ambani International School at Bandra-Kurla Complex, Pinnacle High International School at Malad, RBK International School at Chembur and Ecole Mondiale World School at Juhu.
 

International schools: Managements worry about cutting corners; parents at ease

The Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2011, looming on the horizon of international schools has left managements in a tizzy.

International schools in Mumbai complain that its implementation will pose a challenge to maintenance of state-of-the-art infrastructure and high standards of education, if they are allowed only a 15% hike in fee — as has been laid down by the Act.

“The regulation should consider all perspectives like the huge gap between international schools and other schools due to the quality of education and teacher training, affiliation fees and salaries. So, it is not fair to keep the same bar for both,” argued V Balasubramanium, director, NES International School, Mulund.

Parents, though, are grinning from ear to ear, as the middle-class will now have easy access to affordable, good quality education. Schools are mulling over ways to cut corners to skim through the problem. Kalpana Patel, principal of the Savitridevi Hariram Agarwal International School, Kandivli, elaborated, “The new regulation will put more pressure on schools. We will have to cut and squeeze our expenses for activities like sports day and annual day.”

The biggest task, after the Act is enforced, will be convincing parents to loosen their purse strings. Vandana Lulla, director-principal of the Podar International School, said, “If the parents-teachers association grants permission, schools can hike fees. Schools should be transparent in giving reasons for such a hike. Schools need to work out a plan.”

Manjusha Nabar, whose son studies at the Gundecha Academy, Kandivli, says the regulation will stop schools from charging exorbitant fees, allowing parents from middle income group to also dream big for their children.

Raju Tirmallee, another parent from Dombivli, said several parents have had to take a loan to pay for school fees. “The regulation should bring capitation fees under control.”
 

PIL effect: International school fee to be regularised

If you toss and turn in bed worrying about the high capitation fee, running into lakhs of rupees, at your child's international school, help is on its way.

The state government, which has already cleared the Maharashtra Educational Institutions (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2011, is waiting for the President's nod to enforce it in international schools.

Informing the Bombay High Court of the pace of development, the additional government pleader said, "Both the houses of the state assembly and the council have voted in its favour and now, it has been sent to the President of India, which, as per my instructions, is pending."

Based on the government's statement, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice R S Dalvi disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO, Forum for Fairness in Education, which had asked for a probe into the financial affairs of all international schools in Maharashtra.

The PIL pointed at the imbalance in fees charged by various international schools. While the Ecole Mondiale World (EMW) School, the Witty International School and the Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA) charge Rs5,000 for processing the admission form for the pre-primary, the Jankidevi Public School and the Sharad Pawar International School take Rs7,000 and Rs5,500, respectively, for the same for classes I to X and junior college. The scales are also lopsided when it comes to admission fee.

Naming 19 such schools, the forum said they ask parents to shell out a hefty security deposit of as much as Rs2.50 lakh, even in the case of pre-primary and primary students.

It asked for CM Prithviraj Chavan's directives to all international schools to refund all capitation fee. The bench assured the NGO that its plea will be looked into once the Act is enforced.