Edu dept hears St Xavier’s, parents in complaint over fee

Nagpur: After failing to get any response from St Xavier’s School, Hingna, on their demand to reduce fees in view of Covid-19 pandemic, several aggrieved parents lodged a complaint with the state education department’s Complaints Redressal Committee.
The panel led by senior official Satish Mendhe heard both sides at length on Monday and also accepted their written submissions, and then reserved its verdict.
“It will take some time to deliver judgement, as we’ve heard five cases today related to different issues,” Mendhe told TOI.
Principal Shashi Bala told TOI she would like to wait for the education department verdict before commenting on the dispute.
TOI had reported on the parents’ protest in front of the school after the management rejected their demand to reduce fees by 50% in view of the crisis faced by all citizens due to pandemic and lockdown.The parents had requested not charging fees for activities like sports, computers, library, laboratories and building maintenance. The request was rejected without hearing their grievances.
During Monday’s hearing, parents were represented by Santosh Kosarkar and Prafulla Mete while the principal made submissions on behalf of the school.
“We first approached the management on June 8, and they assured to look into it, but did nothing. When we approached them again last month, they refused to talk. We went one more time, but instead of hearing us out, they prohibited us from entering school premises and called the police. We were forced to lodge the complaint, as the school disconnected the online education link for those who failed to pay fees from August 5,” Kosarkar told TOI.
He said some parents were really in dire straits after losing jobs or facing massive deduction in salaries. “All these years, the school earned massive profit from our salaries, but we never objected. Their transactions are never audited. We’re ready to pay the fees, but only for tuition charges and not for activities like sports, which are totally stopped.”
Parents charged the school with inculcating the habit of online classes among students and then disconnecting it for want of fees. “Due to them, we’ve an extra burden of buying new mobiles or laptops and also taking new broadband connections. Parents who lost jobs or are getting reduced salaries, from where will they bring all these gadgets? It’s a complete fraud on the part of the school,” they alleged.
PARENTS ARGUMENTS
* Reduce fees by 50% & charge only tuition fees
* Allow students to study online even if fees is not paid
* Unethical to disconnect online classes for not paying fees
* Will not pay charges for computer, library & laboratory
* Requesting help only for this year due to Covid-19 pandemic
SCHOOL’S ARGUMENTS
* Waiting for high court’s verdict where similar cases are pending
* Can’t take unilateral decision, as they are association of 28 schools
* Doesn’t get any grants from government or any other authority
* Huge fixed & operational expense towards salaries & maintenance
* Many parents yet to pay fees of previous year, besides this year