La Martiniere College Lko: Fees of 1,000 students hiked; 11 dismissed teachers reinstated

The services of the 11 terminated teachers of La Martiniere College were restored by the local committee of governors (LCG). The decision was taken at a meeting of LCG held in the college boardroom on Saturday.
The college has decided to charge enhanced fees from students enrolled prior to April 2018 (about 1,000 students out of total 2,800 boys) whose fees have not been increased in all these years. The decision to hike fees of old students was taken to implement the Seventh Pay Commission, a long-pending demand of teachers, according to a release by new college principal Gary Dominic Everett.
“Students who were enrolled from April 1, 2018 have been paying higher fees, while those studying before that were paying old fees. There was a situation where old students were paying less fees and new ones were paying more for the same class. Now older students will have to pay revised fees,” said an official.
To implement a uniform fee structure for all pupils enrolled in the same class, no fee hike for pupils admitted after April 2018.
The college decided to introduce an additional two sections in each class from Nursery to Class 9 and 11 from this academic year. This means that the college will have an additional 2,000 students which will help them increase revenue and pay staff according to the Seventh Pay Commission.
It was also resolved that the campus will have air-conditioned classrooms in a phased manner. Booster classes for Classes 11 and 12 with preparation modules for JEE, NEET and other competitive examinations shall be provided.
All classrooms with chalk and duster boards shall be replaced by interactive smartboards with quality teaching resources. A variety of sports and co-curricular programmes shall be extended to all students of the college.
A dedicated English Language Centre shall be set up on the campus. A fully equipped Career Counselling Centre shall also be developed. The Boarding Houses shall be upgraded to fully air-conditioned dormitories with round-the-clock CCTV monitoring. CCTVs shall be also be installed on the campus.
The college kitchen shall be upgraded and re-equipped with consultancy provided by Premier Hotels of Lucknow. Recruitment drive for teaching and non-teaching staff will be launched, inviting applications nationwide as student strength is going to increase in this academic session.
Last month, following a stand-off between teachers and former principal Carlyle McFarland, the services of 11 teachers were terminated. McFarland’s tenure ended on March 30.
Dominic Gary Everett, who joined the college as principal from April 1, said in the release that the services of all 11 teachers have been restored with immediate effect from April, 2024. All the terminated teachers had appealed to the LCG who decided to restore their services by turning down the decision taken by the previous principal.