"The highest result of education is tolerance." -Hellen Keller
"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a moulder of consensus." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
One morning I woke up and following my routine picked up the morning daily, reading that newspaper was an unpleasant jolt. I was shocked to read a news article that was about parents protesting against the fee hike of the S.N.Kansagra School. The next few weeks this new routine continued. Everyday there would be a new article in the newspaper criticising and maligning the school where I had studied for 13 years. I was angry and frustrated, why were some few parents giving my school a bad name. While reading these articles I would always mumble, "If you have a problem with the school or the fees, just change the school, nobody is forcing you to stay in SNK. As simple as that."
But everything is not that simple. After the continuous vehement protests by the parents I decided that I should also look at the other side of the coin too. I talked with one of the members of the Parents Association. All his arguments were genuine and correct. Although I personally do not support the means of their protests, but in a democratic country like ours, these kind of protests are common against politicians,actors,cricketers and in this case; a school trustee. This is controversy has been frequently discussed on social media but here I try to place both the perspectives together and discuss every argument point by point. Fortunately there are a few points on which everyone seems to agree upon.
"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a moulder of consensus." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
One morning I woke up and following my routine picked up the morning daily, reading that newspaper was an unpleasant jolt. I was shocked to read a news article that was about parents protesting against the fee hike of the S.N.Kansagra School. The next few weeks this new routine continued. Everyday there would be a new article in the newspaper criticising and maligning the school where I had studied for 13 years. I was angry and frustrated, why were some few parents giving my school a bad name. While reading these articles I would always mumble, "If you have a problem with the school or the fees, just change the school, nobody is forcing you to stay in SNK. As simple as that."
But everything is not that simple. After the continuous vehement protests by the parents I decided that I should also look at the other side of the coin too. I talked with one of the members of the Parents Association. All his arguments were genuine and correct. Although I personally do not support the means of their protests, but in a democratic country like ours, these kind of protests are common against politicians,actors,cricketers and in this case; a school trustee. This is controversy has been frequently discussed on social media but here I try to place both the perspectives together and discuss every argument point by point. Fortunately there are a few points on which everyone seems to agree upon.
- The quality of education that TGES provides, the facilities,infrastructure,management etc. are absolutely the best in the region. During the last 33 years, TGES has emerged as the number one educational institute.
- The above comes at a price, again which no one questions.
- Fee hike is inevitable; just like every other commodities and services, a fee hike is bound to happen.
- The implementation of RTE act by TGES is commendable.
If every one agrees upon the above mentioned points, what are the parents protesting about?
The Parents' Association:
- Explain the need to increase the school fees by more than 10%.The school should come up with actual financial statements so that parents are convinced that the fee hike is genuine.
- The school should explain what happens with the impress deposit money of 8000 thousand students. Where is that money used and what happens with yearly interest.
These are just a couple of points raised by the PA. The deadlock between PA and school management has lead to many other issues regarding uniforms, syllabus etc.
If there is an increase of 10,000 in a student's fee, it amounts to a whooping 8 crore if 8000 students are considered. The parents who are also the stakeholders of TGES have every right to know where this money was spent in the past 1 year. The PA claims that over 2000 parents have joined the association. The management can not afford to ignore the 25% parents who have trusted TGES.
The TGES Management:
The TGES Management:
- The management has always maintained that the fee hike is because of the additional expenses in the past few years. A lot of money has been spent for a world class infrastructure for TGES.
- The management decided that parents who are important stakeholders of TGES, should decide how the institution would be managed in future by a simple process of voting.
I haven't seen any other school that has adopted such democratic and transparent process and given all the decision power to the parents. The TGES call centre has been open to solve all queries that parents may have. The management has also communicated the views of the trustees on its website. Over 33 years, the trustees have managed to run the school smoothly and taken education to a next level.
The Deadlock:
The Parent's Association is not convinced by the fee hike justification by the management. Kiran Bhalodia who is one of the seven trustees has been the face of TGES all these years. Kiran sir has always explained the TGES mission to all the parents. He is not only the trustee but a role model to all the students. Parents have always trusted Kiran sir and therefore the PA wants to talk to Kiran sir rather than the employees of TGES.
The PA decided not take part in voting because it felt that it had no intention of managing the school or changing the way of management. PA only wants the answers to the numerous questions they had raised. While the PA decided to boycott voting, TGES went ahead and announced the entire voting process. PA went to Gandhinagar and after talks with the government, the government decided to stop the voting process. Subsequently TGES announced that the voting process has been stopped after it received notice from DEO.
The PA decided not take part in voting because it felt that it had no intention of managing the school or changing the way of management. PA only wants the answers to the numerous questions they had raised. While the PA decided to boycott voting, TGES went ahead and announced the entire voting process. PA went to Gandhinagar and after talks with the government, the government decided to stop the voting process. Subsequently TGES announced that the voting process has been stopped after it received notice from DEO.
While publishing this article, a new circular has come out stating that the fees could be reduced and the uniform issues will also be addressed.
http://www.tges.org/TGESCircular6JuneAnoteonfeesuniforms.pdf
This entire issue became more controversial as the protests of parents were unacknowledged and hence the media became more active which lead to further outrage and support for TGES. The alumni and students supported the management by their posts on internet while the PA went out on streets raising slogans and sticking posters around the town. When people start taking sides, the rift only widens, one of my motive to write this article is to bridge the gap between the two parties.
The latest circular from TGES which has been mentioned above seems very promising and looks like the issue will be solved quickly and the new academic year 2015-16 will begin as announced.
Nobody wants this controversy to continue but if still the issue remains unsolved, then the parties would have to solve this matter in court. We all hope that this issue is not dragged to the judiciary but if it is then 'Truth Alone Triumph' . #BeWithTGES or #SupportThePA ........ #SatyamevJayate
