bengaluru the furore over hefty school fees exorbitantly priced books and hidden charges is not restricted to the middle class alone another section of society pourakarmikas street vendors and daily wagers is also bearing the brunt of everincreasing private school fees and their ordeal appears all the more insurmountable unable to cough up the thousands of rupees they need at short notice parents from this strata have been forced to take informal shortterm loans from moneylenders at staggering rates of interest with basic sustenance itself a challenge many are being forced to keep their kids at home despite schools reopening weeks agomanimeghala a 31yearold pourakarmika working at kr market is struggling to pay the school fees for her three children despite schools reopening on may 28 manimeghala who hasnt got her salary for the last six month has been unable to collect enough money to pay for her kids fees the three study in an englishmedium school close to their home in anjanappa garden a slum in chickpeta few years ago the annual fee was rs 12000 today it is nearly rs 18000 for three kids it adds up to nearly rs 60000 a year excluding uniforms i took a loan of rs 12000 and deposited the amount with the school and begged them to make an exception till i can arrange for the remaining money while my children were allowed to attend classes temporarily their results have been withheld because of the dues said manimeghalamanimeghala isnt the only one struggling to make ends meet desperate to see their kids succeed in life fruit sellers cooks street vendors maids and other daily wage workers living in the same slum which houses some 6000odd families have chosen to enrol their kids at private schools in the area this despite there being two government schools in the vicinity however absentee teachers missing furniture and abysmal facilities have kept parents away from these government schoolsknowing english is an important skill we have seen several children drop out after class 10 because they dont see the point in studying further without knowing english they prefer to take up a job and supplement the family income said a parentapart from fees certain schools also insist children own tracksuits and special shoes costing thousands of rupees they are chastised and punished for not paying fees on time leaving them embarrassed in front of their peersmost of the other children in the school come from welltodo families it makes it difficult for children from low income groups to gel with others if they are pulled up and embarrassed in public said manimeghalafuture at stakebhavana name changed a class 8 student should have started attending school 20 days ago but her mother has been unable to arrange money for her fees her elder sister too had to drop out of ii pu as their mother couldnt afford rs 25000 for her education the girl now works at a hosiery store pasting stickers on socks for rs