Reduce, re-evaluate tuition fee structures of English medium schools: Parents

The DPS STS school Dhaka Parents' Forum has urged the government to reduce tuition fees of English medium schools of the country by 50 percent for April-September period this year and re-evaluate the fees structure due to the pandemic.

They sent their request in a formal application to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on April 30.

During this coronavirus shutdown all schools of the country have been closed off for an indefinite period.

But guardians have to pay the tuition fees in full despite their inability to enjoy any facility that the schools provide except online classes.

The parents claimed that being closed for a very long time, the operational costs of the schools have lessened significantly and the overall costs of online platform are also much less than the usual costs.

The parents said many parents have incurred financial losses during this ongoing shutdown and some are on the verge of losing their jobs. Thus, they cannot bear the cost of full tuition fees at this moment.

Keeping in mind that the schools have to pay the teachers and the staff of the schools during this period as well, they have asked for a 50 percent waiver in tuition fees.

They claimed that this decision will be beneficial to the parents and will be justified for the schools as well.

Besides the fee reduction, the parents said Article 19 of the Rules for Registration of Private Schools under Foreign Curriculum 2017 allows English medium schools to raise tuition fees of maximum 10 percent in a year in which the baselines of tuition fees and the breakdowns are not distinctly referred to.

The parents claimed that taking advantage of the particular section of the rule, most of the renowned English medium schools increase tuition fees by almost 10 percent every year without explaining the breakdowns and the tuition fees are ever increasing.

Due to the pandemic the economy will take a massive hit and in turn the parents, being a part of the economy, will in turn reduce their financial ability to bear the high tuitions.

Thus, they urged the government to help restructure the existing tuition fee structure so that their children may have a secured future.

They also stated that they reached out to the authorities of the respective schools for a solution but the authorities have yet to provide a decision on the matter.

They said formal procedures to have elected parents' representatives in the school managing committees are yet to happen and that is why negotiations with the respective school authorities are not being possible right now.