Mumbai: Parents want Goregaon school to slash fees; admin says not possible

A group of parents staged a protest outside the school on Friday

In yet another incident related to payment of school fees, the authorities of Yashodham School in Goregaon and parents of students are at loggerheads. While the parents want the school management to reduce the fees, the authorities concerned refuse to do so as there has been no such directive from the government. Some of the parents even staged a protest outside the school on Friday morning.

Requesting anonymity, a parent said, "When the school is not running as usual then why shouldn't there be a fee reduction? Many of us are facing financial problems. Why should we pay for a certain service if it's not being provided? The school is functioning online. We have had to spend money to make arrangements for our children at home. The school's infrastructure is not being used currently. Hence, there should be some reduction in the fees."

Adding to it, another parent told mid-day, "We've had meetings with the management before, but they are adamant. It's not that we don't want to pay fees. We understand that teachers are continuing with online learning and so we request the school to charge us only for that. "When the school is not functioning at its usual capacity, then why should we pay term fee and other heads?"

However, the school management claimed that they were struggling financially as 50 per cent of the parents were not paying fees. Sunita Goenka, chairperson of Board of Trustees at Goenka and Associates Educational Trust (GAET), which runs the school, said, "We understand some parents might have genuine issues and if they approach us we are ready to solve the problems. But a group of parents cannot decide for everyone. We have given parents the option of paying in instalments or maybe one month at a time. While many parents have paid the fees or have gone for the options given by us, those who are protesting haven't even paid a part of the fees. Yet we have not barred any student from taking online classes."