Parents of nursery students studying in Pune’s St. Helena’s School alleged that the management is charging an “admission fee” for the next academic year. However, at the time of admission, they were told it was a one-time fee which they didn’t have to pay again next year. Despite the assurance, the parents were told to pay ₹30,000 to get their child “admitted” to LKG.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the parents, told The Free Press Journal, “Last year, when our children were admitted in the school, we paid ₹30,000 admission fee, ₹25,000 development fee and ₹62,000 tuition fee, totalling ₹1,17,000. At the time of admission, they had assured us that no admission fee would be charged in the next year. However, for the academic session 2025-26, the school administration demanded another ₹30,000 as an admission fee.”
Another parent added, “We spoke multiple times with the school administration but they did not budge. We have been pressured to pay the admission fee. The school administration had set a deadline of March 31 to pay the admission fee otherwise our child’s seat would be allotted to another student.”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena launched a protest on this issue. Dhananjay Dalvi, Pune City Chief, MNVS, said, “We strongly oppose the school’s irrelevant rules and demand the immediate cancellation of the extra fee. School authorities are saying if they cannot pay the fees, their child can seek admission somewhere else. This is not the right way to talk. This seems like a kind of modus operandi to extract money from parents. If the additional fees are not cancelled we will conduct a large protest at the school. Many parents have paid the extra admission fee under pressure. We urge the school administration to withdraw the illegal fee immediately and provide relief to the parents.”
Following the protest, the school has yielded and cancelled the fees. In a letter, the school administration stated that they had waived the fees. Also, if the parents have already paid the fees, they will be refunded by the school or the fees will be adjusted in the next academic year.
