Parents are concerned over private schools’ demand for extra fees in the name of annual resource charges besides tuition fees despite the closure of the institutions amid COVID-19 lockdown.
Parents had to cope with several challenges during the pandemic, including adapting to the online mode of education, costly gadgets, and internet packages besides overseeing children’s education.
A parent spoke to the state-owned news agency, APP, criticizing the unjustified demands of the private schools.
Throughout the first and second wave of COVID-19, my son in his early years of education studied through an online class. It was not easy for him to grasp the lessons taught online, but we paid the full fee without arguing with the school management.
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However, the school administration is now demanding the annual charges (collected twice a year), which is unjustified when the students have not physically attended the school and utilized any stationary and facilities.
The parent told APP that a group of 300 parents, including her, had visited the school to highlight their grievances, but they were stopped outside the school and were not allowed to meet the principal.
Another parent added that she takes her children to the office and manages their online classes there. For this, she has even received multiple warnings from her superiors as this activity causes disturbance to fellow workers.
Another parent whose child goes to the same school said:
The teachers used to give only instructions to the students through online teaching, but we as parents had to attend all the classes with our children to guide them and help them complete their online classwork and other tasks as well as their homework, which is a time-consuming process when both the parents are working.
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She said that the online classes are nothing short of a nightmare for them as she had to wake up early for the office and her husband had to stay longer to help children through online classes, along with responding to the needs of their other one-year-old child.
“In such circumstances, charging money in the name of annual charges is totally unjustified,” the parent said while urging the authorities concerned to take action against the exploitation of parents at the hands of such institutions.
