Private schools continue to demand hefty admission fee

Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Dec 2: In a brazen violation of government orders, various schools in Kashmir continue to charge exorbitant admission fee from the parents for their wards.
Parents from different areas alleged that schools are demanding a hefty sum of money when they went to admit their wards.
“A few days before, for the admission of my child, I approached two leading schools in our area. One asked me to pay Rs 40,000 while others demanded Rs 30,000 as admission fee,” Gulzar Ahmad, who is a resident of Anantnag, said. “If there is government order not to charge an admission fee, why it is not implemented on the ground.”
Shakeel Ahmad another parent from Ganderbal said that education of children is must but private schools need to show some mercy as everyone has faced the brunt of financial crunch from last two years.
“Schools who are violating the norms must be dealt with strictly,” he said.
Meanwhile parents also alleged that private schools are asking students to join regular classes violating social distancing norms amid Covid-19 pandemic.
They said that most of the schools have started functioning normally and only transport of the schools has been kept is a suspended form.
“My son is studying in a school which is 4 kms from our residence and every day I have to drop him at 10:30 am, and wait up to 1 pm to take him back home,” Tanveer Ahmad, from Shopian said.
“If there are directions that student must be given classes through on-line mode, then how schools are allowed to function normally.” he said, “And if they have been allowed to function normally then they must be allowed to use school buses as well.” (KNO)