Isolated protests have been taking place in Kerala against some schools for not bringing any concession in fees though there are no regular classes. There are many schools in the state that have been charging fees at the same rate despite classes being shifted online for two to three hours a day.
“My child gets an online class of three hours per day, five days a week. Sometimes, it will be just two hours. They collected the regular admission fees as usual at the beginning of the year and continue taking the fees with a reduction of 10%. Though some of the parents had requested more reduction, they were not even ready to listen,” a parent of a student from a school in Thiruvananthapuram says.
“The majority of the parents are fine with paying the amount. Only a few of us are affected by the pandemic. So if we protest, we will be singled out,” she adds.
In Palakkad district, around 200 parents have been protesting outside the Thathamangalam Chinmaya Vidyalaya for the past three days. Students were removed from the class WhatsApp group where the links to online classes are shared.
“My two children are studying in the school. All of us have paid the tuition fees. But we are asking for a concession in special fees that have been collected for maintenance. Children are not using any infrastructure of the school. Then why should we pay? For my two kids I will have to pay more than Rs 27,000 as special fees,” Saji PT, one of the parents, says.
He said that most of the parents are struggling as they were badly hit by the pandemic. “We don't ask for any relaxation in tuition fees as we know that the teachers should get their salary. But we can get a reduction in maintenance fees,” he added.
Even here, the daily classes are for three or four hours. In Kozhikode, Thiruvannur Apex International school, many students were removed from their class WhatsApp group for not paying full fees. They have given a written complaint to the Collector and the Chief Minister.
“We are asking for a 50% discount in fees. Many of us run shops which were closed for months. We are really struggling to make both ends meet. They have agreed for a 25% concession, but we are not able to afford that,” says one parent, Fihar.