NHRC wants action on private schools of Assam seeking fees during lockdown

It was on July 13, Monojit Singha lodged a complaint with the NHRC stating that even as schools have been closed in Assam since March this year due to the COVID-19 lockdown, private school authorities keep sending SMS to the guardians of students to pay monthly and quarterly fees, mentally harassing them. Going is getting tough for the people of the State because of the lockdown, and in such a situation the school authorities should be sympathetic to the guardians of students and give them some respite in the form of fee concessions since schools are closed since March. Singha has sought the intervention of the NHRC in the matter.

The payment of fees by the students of private schools in the State at a time when schools are closed because of the lockdown has become an issue. State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma did make an appeal to the authorities of private schools to give some concessions of fees during the lockdown period when schools are closed. A few private schools have paid heed to the appeal from the Minister and given some concessions, but many of them haven't.

Talking to The Sentinel, Ranjit Kalita, the guardian of a student of a private school in Guwahati, squarely asked the rationale behind the private schools charging tuition fees and bus fare during the lockdown. "Some of the schools have given some concessions, but that isn't satisfactory. Take the case of my son. His quarterly bus fare is Rs 9,000, but his school authority has given just 25 per cent bus fare concession. How justified is this? Why should one pay 75 per cent school bus fare for the period of lockdown when the school buses have been off the road? How come the school authorities charge bus fare without rendering the bus service?" he questioned.

Madhushmita Baruah, the guardian of another student, said, "Some of the schools seek monthly and quarterly tuition fees for the lockdown period on the ground that they take online classes. They're charging huge amounts of fees from the guardians, for most of whom going is getting very tough during the lockdown. Shouldn't the schools have any social responsibility? Appeal from the State Education department won't work. The department should issue a stern directive to the erring private schools to stop them from harassing students' guardians mentally."

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