Parents protest against school authorities in Ludhiana for increasing tuition fee
In the last five days, this is the fourth protest by the parent association against fee-related issues.
Over 250 parents gathered outside Shamrock Christian Senior Secondary School, Hambran Road, on Saturday, to protest against collection of fee amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
They alleged that the school had been asking to pay the tuition fee before May 30, which has been hiked by more than 8 to 10%.
In the last five days, this is the fourth protest by different parent associations against fee-related issues in the city.
The parents visited the school in the morning to meet the principal to request her to waive the enhanced charges from the tuition fee. When nobody from the school authorities came out to address them, the parents started protesting. Also, one of the parents fainted as the day temperature was 40°C.
The protest continued for two hours and ended after police’s intervention, who assured them that they can meet the principal on Monday and also submit a memorandum.
Neeraj Rattan, a parent, said, “My children have been studying in this school since many years, but in this time of financial crisis, we are unable to pay the enhanced tuition fee. The school authorities should cooperate with us. We have requested the state government to waive the admission fee charges.”
Another parent, Pawan Chawla, said, “We are ready to pay the tuition fee, but the authorities have increased it. At such a time, they should not impose hefty fee charges. The school has also included computer fee and smart class charges in the tuition fee, which is not justified as the school has been closed for two months and these facilities have not been utilised.”
School principal P Singh said, “We informed the parents to pay the tuition fee from April to June, but we did not increase it for this academic session. We will never think of enhancing the tuition fee in the times of crisis and wrong information has been circulated. We have to pay salaries to the teachers as they have been taking online classes regularly and the online assessment will start from June 1 for the students.”
“I was not present in the school today and if any parent wants to meet me, can make an appointment. We cannot exempt the annual charges and parents have been informed to pay the same after the school reopens,” she said.
