Mumbai: School bars students from exam over unpaid fees

Parents say they will pay the fees as soon as they can but their kids should be allowed to take the exams. Pic/istock

In another case of a school fees issue between the management and parents, the Somaiya School in Vidyavihar is now embroiled in controversy. Several students whose parents have not paid their fees, have been disallowed from appearing in the ongoing online examination. The school management has issued a statement saying that it has been patient with parents considering the pandemic, and has given several options to pay the fees and yet some have not paid them.
On Monday morning some students were shocked when they were denied access to the online platform where they were supposed to take an exam. "It was shocking as I have had discussions with the concerned department regarding delayed payment. Unfortunately there was no intimation regarding such strict measures," said one of the parents.

‘Unfair to kids'

"Children had studied and were ready to take the exam but got to know that they cannot appear for it for no fault of theirs. This is unfair to children," said another parent. Interestingly, the examination began on Friday and all the students denied access on Monday had taken it on Friday and Saturday. So according to parents, there was no way of knowing for them that their child would be denied access while exam was on. Parents say they will pay the fees as soon as they can but their kids should be allowed to take the exams.

Management speak

The school management, however, has denied the claims by parents stating that there was no intimation regarding it. The official statement issued by the management, reads, "Keeping in view the difficult times and as a gesture of solidarity towards the parents, the school management had rescheduled the time period for the payment of the fees, and provided options for deferred payments with four installments or even monthly installments. Further information regarding the same was also shared with the parents from time-to-time in advance to enable them to plan their finances. Parents who had genuine problems and made a request for further deferment of payment schedules were accommodated and due relaxations made. It is regretted that despite all our efforts to ease the burden of the parents some have not even paid the first/ second installments even though we are now approaching the end of the current academic year. Thus with a heavy heart, we have had to restrict the defaulting students from appearing for their internal tests which can be retaken at any point in time. It is also to be noted that none of the defaulting students scheduled to appear in the CBSE Board Exams this year have been barred from appearing in the ongoing Pre-Board Exams." The statement also adds how the school has been providing all services remotely to ensure no academic loss to children.

A spokesperson of the school management said, "Students from the pre-primary section whose parents later paid fees were immediately given the option to take the examination as the duration is small. In similar cases in older children the exam will be held again later."