On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Delhi High Court order allowing private unaided schools to collect annual fees and development fees from the student for the period after the lockdown ended in the national capital.
After this verdict, CitySpidey talked to parents of Delhi and the Delhi Parents Association. Many parents were found to be afraid to come in front as they said that it will affect their children. Some parents shared that they are getting half of their salaries during the lockdown. Many others said that their businesses have shut down because of lockdown and thus they are unable to pay full fees to the schools. Parents raised a question as to why the schools are demanding full fees for online classes.
CitySpidey also talked to the Delhi Parents Association and they claimed that there are many complaints from parents that the schools did not allow their children to attend online classes when the fees were not paid on time. However, according to the court, the schools can’t prohibit students from taking online classes.
Aparajita Gautam, President, Delhi Parents Association said, “The parents have to pay huge amount of forty to fifty thousand as school fees and during the pandemic, middle-class families can not afford it. Many parents are facing salary cuts while there are others whose businesses have been affected during the lockdown. So it will be very difficult for them to pay.”
“According to me, a lot of middle-class parents are in trouble. Court also said that the schools do not have any authority to prohibit students from taking online classes but I have seen so many cases where schools don’t allow students to be a part of classes. If the parents are not able to pay the fees then it is the parents' problem, so why do schools harass students for fees? That’s why parents are afraid to talk to media and raise the issue,” she added.
