Kolkata, May 15, 2020: Only 100 of the 2,000-odd students of a church-run school in central Calcutta have paid the first quarter fees.

The unusual number shows how “difficult” the financial situation is for parents, the school authorities have said.

The problem is not limited to one institution — schools across Kolkata are facing a similar situation. Many principals used the expression “unprecedented” while speaking to Metro about it.

Some parents have written to schools that their “businesses have been closed”, or “offices are not paying their dues” and that they are finding it difficult to manage expenses.

In a school in Salt Lake, only 5 percent of the students have paid the fees for the first quarter. “Under the circumstances we can only request the parents, knowing that many of them have not received their salaries. We are using the school reserves to meet the expenses and pay members of our staff,” a school official said.

In a private unaided school in south Calcutta about 40 per cent parents have not paid school fees for the past two months.

The school authorities said there were “defaulters” otherwise as well, but this time some of the parents who “never missed the date” were among them.

It is difficult to pay school fees in the absence of business since the Centre announced the lockdown, a businesswoman whose child is in Class II in a New Town school said.

“We have to pay house and office rent and salaries to our members of the staff. We do not know when we would be able to restart the business and when it would pick up,” she said.

In a central Calcutta school affiliated to the Bengal board, which has a large section of students whose parents are traders in New Market or Burrabazar, less than 5 per cent of the students have paid school fees, a school official said.

The managements of a school off the Bypass, a group of schools in south Calcutta and an ICSE school in south Calcutta have extended the date for payment of the first quarter fees till June.

Parents are deferring the payment because they know they do not have to pay late fees, officials of these schools said.

They are now paying the non-negotiable expense such as house rents and electricity charges, a school official said.

“Parents, many of whom are into businesses, do not have cash… they want to hold on to their savings for emergencies, worried about the future if the uncertain times continue,” the head of a central Calcutta school said.

The central Calcutta church-run school has asked parents to make monthly payments instead of the entire quarter. “Now, payments have started trickling in… if the situation continues for long it will be difficult,” the principal said. “It is difficult to expect parents of two kids to pay the fees for three months for both.”

Schools have extended the deadline of payment of the first quarter fees or have given concessions under some heads, but they are not considering a “fee waiver”.

“It will open the floodgates because times are uncertain and then many will start approaching us. We can delay but not waive the fees,” the principal of another church-run school in south Calcutta said.

An institution has to be “financially healthy”, the head of another school said.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/calcutta/coronavirus-lockdown-school-fee-list-bares-depth-of-crisis/cid/1773113