E-Paper
Desperate parents in Chandigarh seek school fee waiver
Parents say that due to economic slowdown, schools in Chandigarh should waive annual charges and only levy tuition fees
With the second wave of the Covid pandemic extending the economic slowdown, parents of schoolchildren are demanding fee concessions on the lines of the last session.
In the absence of any instructions by the administration, schools have been charging annual charges and other dues, along with tuition fees.
“My child’s school has announced the waiver of only medical, diary, magazine and ID card charges, which do not amount to much. Schools should waive the annual charges and only levy tuition fees,” said a parent of a student at Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, requesting anonymity.
A notice sent out by the school to parents (copy with HT) adds that they won’t charge late fee for the first quarter and even consider waiving fees for parents who had lost their jobs. However, the notice cautioned parents against “anti-school activities or mobilising parents”. School principal Dr Parveena John Singh was unavailable for a comment.
Parents of students at KBDAV School, Sector 7, have already held two protests this month seeking waiver of annual charges. Principal Pooja Prakash said, “We had written to the UT education department about this and are awaiting their directions. No parent is being coerced to pay. Our charges are already nominal and only an up to 8% hike, allowed by the Right to Education Act, has been effected.”
Officials of the UT education department said they were exploring all options keeping in view the court cases, provisions of the Fee Regulation Act and the pandemic situation.
President of the Independent School Association, HS Mamik said, “Some schools are allowing concessions on their own, but not schools can afford to do so.”
At Tender Heart School, Sector 33, academic charges for four months have been waived. “Taking the parents’ plight into consideration, we took this decision voluntarily. We will decide on whether to extend this after the summer vacations,” said principal Vikrant Suri.
Mamik, who is also the chairman of Vivek High School, Sector 38, said his school had not hiked fees during the current or the previous session.
