Srinagar: Protests of parents against private school charging school fees picked up steam on Friday with a small but actual demonstration in the heart of Srinagar city. Private Association of Private Schools Kashmir Friday staged a protest in Karan Nagar area of Srinagar city demanding parents should be exempted from paying the school pay during the lock down period.
Various members of the Association assembled at Municipal Park Karan Nagar and protested against the silent attitude of the administration and anti-parental order regarding private school fee.
“We seek the intervention of Lieutenant Governor. Authorities should feel the pain of parents who are finding it hard to feed their families in this pandemic. It is strange that even in this pandemic, when everything was shut and schools were functional, orders were issued asking parents to deposit the school fee,” the protesters told news agency KNT.
They said that schools have taken admission fee in this year that too against the judgment of Supreme Court of India and FFC order.
“The salaries of the staff are always taken up by the schools as a tactic to emotionally blackmail the government and parents as well. We ask the government that if the parents have been cooperating with the schools since August 2019 by paying full fee, why the schools this time can’t waive off the fee for the pandemic period,” they said.
The protesters said that schools are continuously texting and calling the parents to deposit the fee. Some schools have even threatened to stop the online classes if the fee is not paid.
They requested administration to take a humanitarian view of the current situation and take a just decision which will not overburden the parents during this pandemic. (KNT)