Indian School Bahrain fee hike gets approval

Manama : The Education Ministry has given approval for fee hike in The Indian School Bahrain (ISB). The increase in school fee was proposed in the annual general body meeting (AGM) on December 4, 2015.  

During the AGM, it was decided to increase the school fees by BD 5 per child and the school authorities had been waiting for the Ministry’s written approval to the proposal. 

According to ISB Chairman Prince. S. Natarajan, the details of the decision to increase the fee will be discussed in the Executive Committee (EC) meeting this week. 

“First phase of the discussion is already over. The fee hike will be implemented without causing much additional burden to the parents,” he said. “The school will issue a circular to the parents about the details of the increased fee once the EC takes its final decision.” 

As the school reopens today after the two-month long summer holidays, majority of the parents would find it difficult to cope with the revision in the school fees amidst the economic crises and job insecurity. 

Last December, the AGM, attended by 391 parents, was apprised of the dire financial constraints the school had been facing over the past few years. The proposal for increasing the fee was suggested from the floor, which was accepted by the Chairman, who presided over the meeting.  

During the meeting, Natarajan had clarified that the school was running an operating deficit of BD30,000 per month and the accumulated debt of the school had reached BD1.3 million. A BD 5 fee increase was proposed by parents, after recommendations from the financial committee of the school.

Meanwhile United Parents Panel (UPP) led by coordinator Rafeeq Abdulla appealed to the ISB and the Ministry of Education to forgo the ‘unconstitutional’ fee hike. 

“We request the ISB governing body to give up the decision to increase the fee.  We have given letters signed by hundreds of parents to the school and the ministry,” he said. Present committee claimed that they had taken the permission from the last AGM, which was held on December 4, 2015.  

Meanwhile, Abdulla said fee increase was not an agenda of the above mentioned meeting as per the circular sent to parents from the school.

“We had called for an extra general body meeting to discuss the financial issue and proposal for fee hike. But they never listened,” he alleged. 

UPP Chairman V. Ajayakrishnan also called for cancelling the decision to increase the fee hike, which will affect more than 7,000 parents.