Covid-19: Will parents get back 2 months' fee?

School management association mulls proposal to return fee for April-May in bid to ease financial burden that parents may face following lockdown
As the city enters the third day of the 3-week nationwide lockdown imposed to combat the novel coronavirus, the business-class, the middle-class and the poor stare in the face of financial woes. To ease a bit of their financial burden, members of the Gujarat State School Management Federation are mulling if they can return two month's fees to the parents.
Over 3,700 schools across Gujarat come under the Federation's umbrella. Of these, 70% schools are grant-in-aid and the rest are self-financed schools.
GSSMF president Bhaskar Patel said, "Parents who enrol children in grant-in-aid schools have limited income. Since classes will not be conducted for two months, and schools will not hold examination, no money will be spent on it. Electricity bill will be lower and maintenance charges will reduce as schools will stay shut. Schools have funds to pay salary to staff. So, we have proposed the idea of returning fees for months of April and May," said Patel, who is trustee of Aroma School in Usmanpura.
Fee in SFI institutes run into thousands per month, while fee in grant-in-aid schools is lower.
Academic Kirit Joshi said, "It is a good idea but we will be barely saving an expenses. Schools have to pay salary to teachers and staff even if they do not come to school or to maintain the buildings. I feel it will be more helpful if parents of students in SFIs that charge high fee should donate the money to fight the virus. Getting back two-month fee is negligible for them."
A trustee of a school in Bhuyangdev said that the idea has to be discussed with Ahmedabad School Management Committee before anything is announced. "We have around 1,500-1,600 students from lower middle-class and poor background. Our fee is Rs 500. If we give back Rs 1,000 to parents, it will be great help to them. However we need to discuss the pros and cons of the idea before we take a decision," he said, requesting anonymity.
Raja Pathak, trustee of Satvik School in Vadaj, gave the idea a thumbs down. "In Gujarat board schools, where parents are from middle- and lower-middle class, fees do not come on time anyway. About 60% of collection in schools are late fees. Also, showing this in audit also raises concern as FRC decides fees as per statistics given in it," he said.
A senior official in education department, however, said rather than giving fees back, schools should work out methods to start online or distant learning. "When academic sessions start, students will have to be taught syllabus they lost out on. It is time schools get innovative and start distant learning keeping students' future in mind," he said.
Nisha Parekh, parent of a son studying in Class 7 and daughter in Class 3 at Sheth CN Vidyalaya asserts, "I actually do not feel the need to get back fees. Schools haven't closed down due to selfish motive. It is because of the lockdown declared by government for the safety of the citizens. Schools have been closed since March 16. Their exams were to be held in the first ten days of April which has been cancelled now and they will be mass promoted. The schools were to start as per the CBSE norms from April 20. But all this has taken a back seat. This due to no fault of the school. Schools will ensure that the education of students do not suffer and will cover up the syllabus."
Krina Vora, parent of a daughter studying in Class 12 at Shree Navchetan School said, "I don't think fees should be given back by the school to the parents. We are a grant-in-aid school and have less fees. We are sure that our school will complete the syllabus and won't let studies be affected. This is a time when we have to stand by the school instead of making such demands."
Naimesh Shah, parent of a son studying in Class 11 and daughter in Class 9 at Shree Navchetan School stated, "I believe fees should be sought if the situation worsens and the studies of the students suffer. It is very difficult to judge what will be the situation in June. Of course, when there is a lockdown, businesses are bound to suffer and there will be money problems. However, schools are not responsible for it."