The City District Education Officer (DEO) has now sent AIS a notice requesting that it cease its Primary Years Programme (PYP) or “enrichment programme” with immediate effect, two months after parents of students at Ahmedabad International School (AIS) protested that the DEO was not taking their complaints against AIS and other Ahmedabad schools seriously.
On June 7, the parents had reached out to Kuber Dindor, the minister for tribal development and education, to intervene. Subsequently, Dindor directed the Office of Schools’ Director to launch an investigation headed by the DEO and take appropriate action.
The PYP enrichment programme has been the main source of parents’ financial and emotional indigestion. Parents claim that the school introduced nine optional subjects as part of the programme and charged Rs. 1.35 lakh per student per year, excluding GST.
Parents complained, among other things, that the costs for the enrichment programme were higher than the annual fees, even as the DEO established a three-person committee to investigate the complaints regarding the programme.
THE NOTICE
The DEO notice to the school said that levying GST was akin to commercial endeavour, which education institutes were not allowed to do so. The notice also took note of the fact that those students who do not opt for PYP programme were made to wait till the day’s activities were over.
District Education Officer Rohit Chaudhary said in the notice, “Schools cannot coerce any student into participating in such activities, and any GST collected must be refunded.” He said in the notice that any school facing similar allegations will face action.
AIS could be penalised or worse, its NOC could be revoked, officials in the Education Department said.
The school officials were not available for comment but for now, it seems the school has dug in its heels, as it has not yet revoked the PYP programme.