School involves kids’ guardians in fee-waiver process in Kolkata

KOLKATA: A school with four branches in the city and surroundings has allowed parents to be part of the committee that will look at school-fee waivers. This is the first time that a school has included parents in the decision-making process in order to make the system more empathetic and more acceptable to parents and guardians.
Julien Day is also choosing prominent members of the community to be part of the Grievance Redressal Committee that is being constituted.Representatives of the trust that runs the school and principals of the four branches will also be part of the committee.
Like most other schools in the city, all four branches of the school — on Elgin Road, Ganganagar, Kalyani and Howrah — have a large number of students’ parents who have not paid the fees for the first quarter and are demanding waivers. Parents have written to the school citing loss of job, salary reductions or folding up of businesses as the reasons behind non-payment of fees. They have also shown their willingness to produce documents to corroborate the claims. Following recent trends, some parents have also said that the school should clarify its financial status while debating on fee waivers.
School authorities said that lest the crisis worsened, they will allow parents’ representatives and some prominent members of the city, especially lawyers, to look at every case that comes up demanding a waiver.
There will be no cap on the number of parents who can apply. A notice has been issued explaining that no parent will be refused and a format has been drawn up for application of waivers. The documents will be scanned by the committee to arrive at the percentage of waiver that may be offered. The school has also assured that no child will be disconnected from online studies or struck off the rolls for non-payment of fees.
The format looks into the income of both parents and even if one of them is going through a financial crisis, the case will be considered. “The problem is not the same for everyone and, hence, there cannot be a blanket waiver. Since there will be parents’ representatives on the panel, one can expect the decisions to be acceptable to parents,” said Colleen Smith, principal of the school’s Elgin Road branch.
Parents unhappy with the initial decision of the committee on the waiver amount can apply for a review. If the parent is still unhappy, s/he can apply to the trustees, who will take the final call.