Glenrich International School Raises Tuition by Up to 21%, Parents Allege 'Waiting List' Threats

The authorities of Glenrich International School, a prominent English-medium institution in the capital, have implemented a massive hike in annual tuition fees. While the school administration claims the increase is limited to a flat 10% per class, parents allege they are being burdened with effective fee hikes ranging between 15% and 21%.

Despite strong appeals from guardians for a review, the school authorities have reportedly threatened to cancel the enrollment of students who fail to pay the revised fees on time. Consequently, as the payment deadline expired on Wednesday (July 15), at least 556 parents withheld the tuition fees of 704 students in protest.

Glenrich International School, operating campuses in Satarkul and Uttara, is managed by the STS Group, which holds links to British International Investment (BII). Former Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi is also one of the key shareholders of this group.

Legal Discrepancy and Effective Fee Hikes

According to Rule 19 of the Registration Rules for Private Schools Conducted under Foreign Curriculum, 2017, the maximum permissible annual tuition fee hike is capped at 10%. Furthermore, a High Court directive issued on May 25, 2017, mandates the formation of a managing committee consisting of parents, teachers, and school authorities to oversee operations, publish audited accounts, and approve fee structures. Parents argue that the Glenrich administration has willfully misinterpreted the regulations and violated the apex court's directives.

An analysis of the official fee structures across two consecutive academic sessions reveals the disparity between the school's claims and the actual financial burden on advancing students.

While the base hike for remaining in the same class hovers around 10%, the financial leap for a student promoting to the next grade is significantly higher. For instance:

• Playgroup to KG-1: 14.54% increase

• KG to Grade 1: 16.74% increase

• Grade 4 to Grade 5: 20.44% increase

• Grade 7 to Grade 8: 21.75% increase

• Grade 10 to Grade 11: 21.40% increase

Data shows a historic trend of exponential increases at the institution over the past six sessions. A student who entered Nursery in the 2021–22 session paying BDT 1,55,420 is now required to pay BDT 3,38,580 in Grade 5—marking an astronomical 118% increase over their enrollment year.

Corporate Justifications and Parent Backlash

Following the fee notification on July 6, an absolute majority of 556 parents submitted a joint petition to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of STS Group, Manas Singh, on July 11. The parents stated that during admission, the school verbally committed to an annual fee escalation of only 2.4% to 5%, based on which families planned their long-term finances.

In a written response on July 13, STS Group CEO Manas Singh rejected the parents' claims, asserting that no such 2.4% to 5% commitment was ever made. He justified the hike by citing a 15% to 18% increase in operational expenses driven by the addition of premium facilities like Robotics, STEM, Royal School of Music (London), MathBuddy, Alliance Française, and high domestic inflation. Singh noted that inflation has caused a 12% to 15% rise in IT equipment costs, 15% in fuel/diesel, and over 18% in electricity tariffs.

Crucially, the CEO warned parents that because the institution has an extensively long waiting list of admission seekers across most grades, timely payment is mandatory to secure seats, implying that unpaid seats would be reassigned to applicants on the waiting list.

Parents have fiercely rejected this explanation, labeling it a veiled threat and a tactic to exploit guardians following the court-ordered abolition of re-admission fees.

"When parents raise a collective concern, the Glenrich management should have sat down for a dialogue. Instead of taking a transparent route, they issued a veiled threat mentioning their waiting list. This is no way to hold a discussion," an aggrieved parent told The Daily Campus on condition of anonymity.

Another guardian criticized the corporate response as misleading:

"The CEO's explanation is completely ambiguous. Why are they citing fuel costs when parents pay for student transport separately? They even cited the rising cost of educational materials, which are also funded out of our own pockets. These explanations are made up simply to remain stubborn on their stance."

Absolute Deadlock Over Payments

In a counter-response sent late on July 13, the parents issued a five-point charter of demands to the management, seeking a joint dialogue, extension of the payment window, suspension of enrollment cancellations, waiver of late fees, and a mutually accepted final fee structure.

The parents have explicitly vowed to withhold all tuition fee payments until the authorities sit across the table for a transparent, consultative settlement. The Daily Campus reached out to STS Group CEO Manas Singh via email on July 13 and July 14 for comments, but no response has been received so far.