Fee dispute: Parents, schools harden stand in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The row over fees escalated on Monday with both school managements and parents of students hardening their stand. As guardians hit the streets in protest, some institutes started removing students from online platforms over non-payment or partial payment of school fees.
A large number of schools, which are affiliated to the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), have appealed to the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificates for help, expressing their distress over their depleting coffers.They claimed they were gradually moving towards a situation, in which payment of salaries might become impossible.
“Schools by the hundreds have approached us for help. We are trying to look for a solution. We have already told them to comply with the state government request and send us a copy before we can start a dialogue,” said Ranjan Mitter, head of the association.
Parents of a school in Behala blocked Diamond Harbour Road, demanding the administration meets them with a rollback of fees. Into third day of the protest, the demonstration went on for over 20 minutes, forcing cops to reroute vehicles to James Long Sarani. The road road block led to multiple buses getting stuck on one carriageway, linking Behala Chowrasta with Taratala. Many bus passengers were seen joining the cops and requesting guardians to withdraw their protest. “We have forwarded the guardians’ petition to the school, which has promised a dialogue,” said a police officer who convinced the guardians to withdraw their sit-in. A guardian claimed they were ready to pay tuition fees, but did not “see any reason why 16 stationery items, mostly notebooks, would cost Rs 2,200”. Parents at Vivekananda Mission School, Joka, also staged a demonstration on similar grounds.
A prominent central Kolkata school that has several branches started removing students from the class WhatsApp group by the “admins” or teachers because parents had either not paid fees or made partial payments.
Twenty-four Class VII students and nearly 10 from classes XI and XII each were removed from the online groups, where they were sent links and passwords for online classes during the pandemic.