The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) on Thursday held a hearing in connection with some students allegedly being made to sit separately in a Thane school due to non-payment of fees, an official said.

During the hearing, Thane Zilla Parishad education officers Lalita Dahitule and Balasaheb Rakshe informed the commission that they visited the Thane Police School premises and noticed there was partial treatment to students who did not pay the fees for the ongoing academic year and were asked to sit separately in the assembly area, the MSCPCR said in a statement.

While it is imperative for parents to pay the fees, under no circumstance should school authorities made children pawns to extract fees, the commission’s chairperson Susieben Shah said.

“They should not be subject to humiliation of any kind or nature. The payment of fees is a contract between the school and parents and should be dealt with accordingly,” Shah added,

“The digitization process is on in the school wherein they can pay the fees online via an app. The students were only in the assembly area. There was no discrimination of any sort with the students,” the school’s principal said.

Shah directed that the school should conduct a seminar to explain the entire application and fees procedure.

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