Nagpur: Hordes of parents gathered in front of Besa based Podar International School on Tuesday to protest against school’s fee policy. The gatekeeper held the door close and didn’t allow parents to enter the school premises.
To impose down their whimsical fees policy upon parents, school management had picked PTA members in an arbitrary manner, the parents have alleged.
Parents also alleged that they received calls from teachers notifying that if they failed to pay two installments, their ward wouldn’t get access to online exams conducted by school.
Parents have also complained that private schools have charged fees for the facilities their wards are not going to avail, at least during the initial months of the academic year when teaching-learning is taking place online.
It is after the police’s arrival and principal’s assurance that he will contact management about a 50% reduction in school fees, the protest was called off.
While many schools have retained the fee structure for the academic year 2020-2021, parents said schools have charged fees for use of libraries, laboratories, sports, and gymnasium facilities, among others, that students are unable to access. The move has brought financial burden on parents, who are already facing pay-cuts owing to global pandemic.
Nagpur Today has been receiving a series of complaints about the whimsical move of prominent educational institutions seeking money from gullible parents on the pretext of online classes. Despite exposing the matter, the Education Department, so far had failed to take any stern cognizance in this regard.