Chennai school allegedly asks students to pay more to access more facilities

Chennai: In a case of alleged discrimination, a private school in Chennai has asked students to pay more if they want access to more facilities.

Chennai's Bala Vidya Mandir school has given parents two options for school fees. If parents pay around Rs 60,000, which is more than the fixed amount determined by a state appointed committee, then their children will get better facilities.

But if parents choose second option and pay fees of Rs 35,800, then their children can only attend 4.5 hours of classes and will be denied more than 50 extra curricular activities and facilities such as the school canteen, multimedia lab, among others.

The move came just a day before school will re-open after summer vacations.

Nearly 400 parents are protesting against the school's fee structure. The fee determination committee has ordered a probe into the matter.

A parent said, "The school has been charging huge amounts of illegal fees for a long time. High fees was sparking point for parents to approach the committee."