There’s been a discord between schools and parents over payment of fees in West Bengal. Many parents refusing to make payments and are seeking additional fee waiver which has led several institutions to seek for bank statements, salary certificates and payslips as proof of financial stress before considering such proposals.
A section of parents have objected to the move stating that if schools want to scrutinize their financial documents, they must also make their books of accounts available for parents to check out their reserves and expenses, both before and after the lockdown.
Don Bosco School, Park Circus, which offered relief to parents by allowing fee payments to be done in installments, has now asked parents approaching the authorities for additional fee waivers to deposit a copy of their latest payslip. Principal of the school, Fr. Bikash Mondal said, “Those who have appealed citing job loss or pay cut as a reason for seeking extra relief will be requested to submit a confirmatory letter from the company informing about their layoff or stating their salary reduction.”
While St Augustine’s Day School has asked parents to submit a declaration for an interim relief that the school is willing to extend to those facing a financial crunch. In a notice to parents, the school has said it will defer payment of 30 percent fees till February 2021 on two conditions – the remaining 70 percent has to be paid now and parents seeking deferment must produce a letter from their employer regarding their pay cut. The parents also have to sign a declaration that the information provided is true and submit a post-dated cheque for the 30 percent fee to be debited from the account next February.
Further to the West Bengal schools fee waiver, the Julien Day Group of Schools that has branches in Kolkata, Howrah, Ganganagar and Kalyani have asked parents in salaried jobs to submit their current bank statement, salary slip and a letter from the company. Principal Bobby Baxter, “We are requesting those parents seeking additional waiver on compassionate grounds to fill-up a declaration form and submit statements about the authenticity of their requests. All documents will have to be submitted within a fortnight.”
Central Modern School, Baranagar’s principal Nabarun De too has asked guardians to submit payslips for the months of March, April and May for further consideration on fee waiver.
Source: Times of India
Also read: Kerala HC dismisses PIL against collection of school fees during lockdown
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