Noida: Torn between home loans, rents and business losses during the lockdown, many parents have been forced to pull their children out of schools, unable to pay their fee. Some parents who have defaulted on payments have even complained that the schools are not allowing their children to attend online classes and are apprehensive of whether they would be allowed to attend the final exams scheduled a few months from now.
Although the UP government has asked schools to roll back fees, they have been taking a “composite fee”, which includes charges for tuitions and a few other activities. A section of parents has expressed inability to pay the reduced amount too. The schools, however, have argued that they need to charge some part of the fee so that they can pay salary to their staff and cover other maintenance charges.
“I run a stationery business, which was entirely shut during the lockdown because schools and offices were closed. I am the sole earning member of my family and have dependent parents, a home loan, rent and two school going children to take care of. So, I had no option but to pull my children out of school. I have just engaged them with private tuitions for the year. I can’t imagine sending them back unless my finances stabilise,” said Puneet Sharma (38), a resident of Vijay Nagar. Sharma’s elder daughter goes to a convent school in Ghaziabad and is a student of Class 6. His son is in Class 2.
Apart from a government order on reduction of fees, the district inspector of schools (DIOS) in Noida and Ghaziabad had notified schools to accommodate children whose parents have been going through financial instability. Parents, however, claim that the advisory has fallen on deaf ears.
“We have been getting complaints every day from parents whose children have either been barred from online classes, not allowed to take the unit tests, removed from their classroom WhatsApp groups or their mid-term report cards withheld. This is sheer harassment. We have filed complaints at the district and state levels on this,” said Shivani Jain, president of the All School Parents’ Association.
Nitin Sharma, whose daughter studies in Class 8 of Delhi Public School in Siddharth Vihar, alleged her daughter had been barred from online tests.
“I have EMIs to pay and have had a 60% pay cut during the pandemic. I requested the school to take only the tuition fee, but they want to take the full composite fee. I am in no position to pay that fee now. There is a government order. Why does the school not comply? My daughter has been prevented from taking online tests and I wonder if they will allow her to take the final examination as well,” said Sharma.
Told about the allegations, principal Krishna Singh said the school is being harassed by a group of parents who want to escape paying the fees using the pandemic as an excuse.
“We can have a decent discussion with the parents, but they are ganging up against the school authorities. We have all evidence to prove that their online classes or tests have not been stopped,” she added.
Fuzail Khan, legal advisor to ASPA, said most schools have the capacity to support a small section of parents who are facing financial constraints. “From what we have seen, only about 10% of the parents have faced financial problems during the pandemic at private schools. The schools can easily provide relaxation in such cases because affecting a child’s morale or moving them out of online classes is not in the spirit of education. There is also a PIL pending at the Allahabad high court, which would be heard on January 18. The PIL demands a 50% discount of school fee in the state,” Khan said.
Ravi Dutt, DIOS of Ghaziabad, said, “There should be transparency between schools and parents. We are hearing such complaints on an individual basis.”
Neeraj Kumar Pandey, the DIOS of Noida, said, “Schools have their own constraints. Schools are normalising the curriculum. So, for higher classes, all children will eventually have to go and attend the classroom.”