Parents file plaints against school on full fee demand

The Azaan School Parents Group (ASPG) and Telangana Parents Association for Child Rights and Safety (TPACRS) lodged a complaint in the Golconda police station against the institution as the management has blocked access of several students to online classes and was pressurising them to pay the fee that is similar to yesteryears for online classes.

Group president Ghazanfar Ali said the school management did not communicate to the ASPG the break-up of the fee, marking the tuition fee as the same as the regular fee that they have been charging before the pandemic. He said the school is a service provider and parents/students are the consumers and have every right to pay only for the services being rendered by the former.

He contended that as the school is not offering regular education and is limited to offering online education alone, so the management is not entitled to charge the regular fee. If the parents desire to pay the fee for the online classes alone, it is by and at large a legitimate right of the parents as consumers to pay only for the services they are receiving.

Asif Hussain Sohail, president, TPACRS, asserted that there should be a fee modification between physical and online education. As the parents are not availing full services, they should be charged only for the provided services, not the entire fee. Management should not block students just because they do not pay the full fee since it is a violation of the right to education in nonpayment of fees.

“We are not against the school management. They should sit with the parents of students and solve amicably. As we are receiving complaints from various parts of the city, we are extending our support to all parents of Telangana,” said Sohail. School secretary Dr Nayyar Farozan claimed that they just uploaded the fee structure in April and had mentioned that parents who were affected due to the pandemic can avail a concession. She said such parents can be provided up to 50 per cent fee rebate for primary classes, 25 per cent for upper primary classes and 12 per cent for ninth and tenth classes.

She said the online classes were no less than actual classes and students can interact with the teachers. Only few parents have objection over the fee structure, claimed Dr Farozan.