Parents’ protests continue outside tricity schools

CHANDIGARH: Parents staged protests on Saturday outside St Kabir High School, Sector 26, and St Joseph’s School, Sector 44, in Chandigarh, and St Soldier Divine Public School, Sector 16, in Panchkula, against the collection of fees despite classes being suspended amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

In the last one week, at least 10 such protests have been held by parents, who say their economic condition has taken a hit due to the lockdown and they can’t afford to pay the fees.

GS Bakshi, administrator of St Kabir High School, said, “We made it clear that if any parent has a problem, they can discuss it with us. The approach of pressurising the school management by staging protests will not work. We will follow the rules laid down by the UT administration and expect parents to do the same.”

Monica Chawala, principal of St Joseph’s School, could not be reached for comments.

Neera M Singh, manager of St Soldier Divine Public School, said, “For the lockdown period, the school is charging last year’s fee of ₹ 3,050 and nothing else. The parents don’t understand that the school has only merged the fee structures and not raised it much.”