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Parents hold bike rally against school for charging fee during lockdown in Ludhiana
In a letter submitted to the school administration, they demanded the school not to charge the fee as classes were not conducted for two months.
For charging fee during the lockdown, around 50 parents of students studying in Shamrock Christian Senior Secondary School, Hambran Road, held a bike rally from the school till deputy commissioner office on Tuesday.
In a memorandum to deputy commissioner Pradeep Aggarwal, parents asked for relief during this time of financial crises.
Meanwhile, in a letter submitted to the school administration, they demanded the school not to charge the fee as classes were not conducted for two months.
“Your staff members send the homework through WhatsApp, which is not online study. Parents themselves are helping their children with the syllabus. Therefore, the fee demanded by you is illegal and amounts to unfair trade practice and cheating,” the memorandum read.
The parents also demanded the school not to charge any annual fee and said, “We don’t want to purchase the books from the school. Rather than giving us discounts at such a time, they are charging more than the market rates.”
Hemant Kumar, whose son studies in Class 3, said, “Even after the recent Punjab and Haryana high court order, which has allowed the school to charge 70% of the total fee, this school is asking us to pay the full amount by May 31. The DC has assured us that he will look into the matter.”
Pradeep Singh, principal of the school, however, said that the parents will have to pay the fee.
“Our teachers have worked hard throughout the lockdown to give online classes to students, but their salaries for April are still pending. Parents can pay the fee in any way, monthly, bimonthly or quarterly. There will be no concession in that,” she said.
On the issue of charges of books, she said that all the books from class 6 to 12 are from NCERT and the parents don’t wish to purchase them from the school, can buy them anywhere from the market since they are easily available.
