Amid reports of schools insisting that parents pay the full fees for the 2021-2022 academic year, some private school managements have done the exact opposite: they are offering discounts.
The reduction in school fees varies from 10%-30% based on tuition fees for the previous academic year.
D.D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said they would advise managements to give a discount of anywhere between 10% and 20%. “We will issue an advisory to all our member schools on Monday. We also want schools to tackle fee collection on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons,” he said.
Since the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, many families are struggling to pay the fees due to either job loss or reduced salaries. According to Mr. Kumar, many parents who paid the fees for the last academic year (2020-21) were watching the situation.
In an attempt to rectify this, some schools are offering a reduction in fees. Samved School, for instance, has decided to give a 20 % discount for the 2021-2022 academic year for those in need. Sandhya Siddharth, Director of Samved School, said, “We have given the option to the parents to avail of the discount. This is our way to help parents who have been impacted by the lockdown. We do not want children to lose out on learning due to the pandemic.”
Ameen E. Mudassar, whose daughter studies in Samved school, said that the management’s decision was very reassuring. “We are glad that the school management is able to understand the gravity of the second wave of COVID-19 and its impact on the finances of families. This discount will ensure that students can continue their education without any hurdle,” he said.
However, not all schools are being so considerate. Many schools are hiking the school fees compared to what was charged last year. Parents of Greenwood High have written to the school management expressing displeasure over the 6% increase in annual fees. They have urged the management to roll back the fees.
Another city school increased fees by 8%. “Even last academic year, we were not allowed to hike the fees. All our infrastructural costs for online classes have increased and we need to hike the fees to meet them and provide quality education,” said a management member of the school.
