Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Sainik school fee: parents protest

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is the responsibility of the State and Central governments to provide all the necessary educational and financial assistance to students studying in Sainik Schools, Member of Parliament Pannian Raveendran has said.

He was speaking after inaugurating a dharna by around 500 parents under the auspices of the Parents’ Association, Sainik School, Kazhakkuttom in front of the Secretariat on Sunday, protesting against the exorbitant fees levied from the students and the annual 10 per cent hike of tuition fees by the school. “The fact that the students studying at the school have to shell out around Rs.70,000 every year for their studies is reprehensible,” Mr. Raveedran said.

Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP and also a member of the Local Board of Administration of the School told the parents that he had already raised the issue with A.K. Antony, the Defence Minister. “The Parliament will discuss and take a decision on the issue,” he assured the parents. The agitators were also assured support by MLA’s M.A. Vahid and V. Sivankutty.

Started nearly 40 years ago by V.K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister, there are 21 Sainik Schools in the country. One of the main objectives of the school is to train young talents to create efficient officers in the armed forces. The school also helps reduce the regional imbalance of representation in the officer’s cadre in the armed forces. The Union Minister for Defence is the chairman of the schools.

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