KOCHI: Students across the world suffered when their parents/guardians lost their job or faced salary cut due to the pandemic. They experience a lifestyle change, loss of friends, and sometimes have to shift to a new school as they are no longer able to afford the huge fees of their former schools.There are also some other students, who have been studying outside Kerala or even outside India, who suddenly had to return when Covid affected their parents’ career. Some were expecting public examinations in the coming days and could not apply at a new school.
When this issue was raised at the Kerala State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR), it intervened immediately, forcing the school managements to amend their rules and return the advance amount paid. The commission also made the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) amend its rules on the conduct of examinations.
Advance fee to be returned
Anand, a parent from Adoor in Pathanamthitta district, approached the KeSCPCR after a well-known school in Changanassery refused to return the advance he paid. To admit his daughter to Plus-One, he paid `10,000. He had recently lost his job due to Covid and was no longer in a position to pay the fees at the school. When he first approached them, they denied his request. The school said the advance once paid could not be returned under circumstance.
In grief, Anand approached the KeSCPCR. It started an inquiry and asked the school to return the advance amount. “The pandemic has created a new normal, which has affected the lifestyle and mental state of young children. They are no longer able to attend classes physically and some had even migrated to their hometowns. All these have affected the students. So, in such a condition, unaided schools have to be more lenient and should not hold back the advance amount if a parent does not wish to continue their ward’s study in that school,” said K Naseer, commission member in charge of Ernakulam district.
Naseer said some students are returning to Kerala from foreign countries and other states. “These children do not have money to enrol in a new school and have requested a change of examination venue. Normally, this was not possible according to CBSE directives, but we requested the Board to make amendments,” he said.
The commission sought an explanation from the CBSE and directed it to provide a chance to change the centre of examination to students returning from a foreign country or state due to Covid or Covid-related financial issues. After the intervention of the KeSCPCR, the CBSE amended its rules.
State schools see more admissions
After the Public Education Rejuvenation Mission, the number of students joining the state schools has increased, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said earlier. He added as many as 1.75 lakh new students have joined Class I to X in state schools during 2019-2020.