Academic year draws to a close, but angst over fees continues

Private school managements claim they are providing relief to parents on a case-by-case basis; parents say their children are being targeted

While students are preparing for their final examinations and teachers are getting ready to tackle the next academic year, parents and school managements are yet to arrive at a consensus on payment of school fees for the current year.

While managements claim they need the money from fees to run their schools and pay staff, parents say they are unable to pay the full amount because of financial constraints as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The matter has been under dispute for 11 months now with parents and then schools staging protests and seeking government intervention. And according to stakeholders, it is unlikely to get resolved any time soon. The High Court of Karnataka, earlier this week, passed an interim order directing the State government not to take any coercive action against members of the Association of Indian Schools, affiliated to the CBSE and the ICSE, for any violation of the Government Order mandating that schools not to collect more than 70% of the tuition fee charged in the previous academic year.

For school managements, this came as a relief, though many said they were trying to accommodate parents on a case-by-case basis.

D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said the department cannot force schools to charge only 70% of the fee. However, keeping in mind the problems that families are facing, he said that many school managements were currently collecting only 70%. “We are instead asking them to sign an undertaking that they will pay the whole amount later if the court permits them,” he said.

Mansoor Ali Khan, a member of the board of management of the Delhi Public group of schools, said the hope is there will be more clarity from the courts on the matter by the end of this month. “We are asking parents who didn’t take salary cuts to pay the full fee. There is a moral responsibility that they have. Those who can afford to pay should do so. However, for those who cannot afford to pay the full fee, we are not stopping online education,” he said.

Gowdaiah H.K., a member of Voice of Parents, a parents’ group, said that parents would fight the battle legally and take the issue to a logical conclusion. He accused school managements of not being transparent with parents about their expenses, which has resulted in animosity and distrust.

‘Children singled out in class’

For the better part of this academic year, almost all dinner conversations at Lata Thomas’ (name changed) house have revolved around school fee. Both the children of the house are enrolled in a top private school in Bengaluru, but Ms. Thomas and her husband have had to take pay cuts because of COVID-19. “Now, paying the entire school fee is a burden, one that weighs heavily on us,” she said.

Despite assurances from school managements, parents remain anxious about the treatment meted out to their children if they don’t pay the fee. Many families have taken loans as they are worried that if they don’t do so, their children will not be allowed to give their examinations or will be be singled out.

A mother of a class 5 student, on the condition of anonymity, said that although her son’s school was not restricting access to online classes, children were being named and shamed. “Every week, the teacher will make a list of students who have to pay the fee and read it out in class. This will deeply affect my child’s morale, so I was forced to pay the fee,” she said.

Many school managements are also allegedly not evaluating assignments and tests if the student has not paid the fee. Antony Sebastian, chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said they have received several complaints from parents about the way their children were being targeted. “We are forwarding the complaints to the respective Deputy Directors of Public Instruction or Block Educational Officers,” he said.

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