Noida: The long-standing dispute between parents and the management of DPS Sector 132 Noida , over hiking fees has taken a curious turn with the school revising the fee structure and, according to parents, ending up actually hiking it again for classes nursery to XI.The move followed a series of notices from the joint director (Meerut zone) and the district inspector of schools (DIOS) to the school management against the alleged fee hike of 14% and collection of annual charges.The total fee to be paid by students who were admitted before 2016 now stands at Rs 1,23,300 per year instead of Rs 1,20,000 earlier, said parents.While the annual charges have been done away with, two new heads have been introduced in the fee structure -- development charge (for training and intellectual advancement) and fan & air conditioner charges. While earlier an annual charge of Rs 27,300 was being taken, the new 'development charge' and 'fan & air-conditioner' charges now sum up to Rs 27,456. Apart from this, the school has tweaked certain fee, effectively increasing the amount by Rs 3,300 per year, claimed some parents."It is a mockery of the law. The amount has been re-introduced under two new heads. Rather than reducing the fee, which we have been fighting for, the school has increased the fee by Rs 3,300 per year. Moreover, fan and air-conditioning charges have been mentioned to be collected as Rs 3,000 annually from students of classes nursery to XI. The air conditioner is available only for pre-nursery and LKG classes," said Ritu Lal, who has been protesting against the hike for almost one year.As per the circular issued on February 14, the new heads have been revised as per the administrative order from the education department (UP) Order 2072/15-7-09-1 (67)/ 2009 dated Jan 15, 2010.However, the order, accessed by TOI, mentions only charges for "fan" and not air-conditioners.The school has also revised the fee for students of classes nursery to XI who were admitted after 2016-17 session. They will now have to pay a total of Rs 1,92,548 including Rs 59,248 audio-visual charges and Rs 10,000 for library and practicals. "Audio-visual charges and library/practical charges will be taken from nursery students. How can the school explain this?," asked a parent whose child studies in Class V.District inspector of schools Bheem Singh told TOI that the school cannot revise the fee in retrospective effect during mid-session. Singh said that the issue will be reported to the joint director as he does not have the authority to cancel the school's affiliation.While DPS 132 principal Indira Kohli's mobile remained switched off, Sivanand Raja, representative of school's management committee, did not respond despite three calls, SMS and WhatApp messages.

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