Gurugram administration: No fee hike during lockdown

Deputy commissioner Amit Khatri on Wednesday said that private schools in the district could neither force parents to pay school fee nor hike fees during the lockdown.

Deputy commissioner Amit Khatri on Wednesday said that private schools in the district could neither force parents to pay school fee nor hike fees during the lockdown. In a statement released by the administration on Wednesday, Khatri said that the administration had received several complaints and queries about fee payment.

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The administration’s response on fee hike comes three days after the state education department had said that private schools in the state could collect a monthly fee from parents, only if their financial condition allowed them. The department had also said that parents facing financial distress due to the lockdown could not be forced to pay the monthly fee and could seek relaxation from schools.

However, the order had failed to mention the fee hike, a concern that some parents had raised.

Parents, however, continue to insist that deferment of fee payment is not sufficient. They said that schools should consider doing away with hikes and additional heads, and instead, reduce the fees due to the prevailing circumstances. “No parent is refusing to pay. Our only concern is that schools should subsidise the fee since classroom teaching cannot be treated on par with online classes. Schools should give us some concession and justify the fee that they are charging,” said Praveen Malik, a parent.

Colonel (retired) KR Pratap Singh, president of the Haryana Progressive School Conference, a consortium of private schools, said that the education department had not given any directive on fee hike. “The administration is talking about a deferment during the lockdown and not a waiver. Schools are already accommodating the interests of parents and not putting pressure on them,” said Singh.

Regarding lessons for students of government schools, Khatri said that the administration is planning to deliver books to children’s homes. He said that bus routes are being charted out for the purpose.