A forum of parents from DPS-STS School located in Uttara area of Dhaka urged the prime minister’s intervention seeking 50% waiver against tuition fees between April-September of all English Medium schools countrywide.
The forum also demanded reviewing the overall tuition fee-structure of this sector as the school authorities increase the fees 10% every year using the loopholes of regulatory law.
The demands were made to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina via a letter on Thursday by Barrister Omar Farouq, president of DPS-STS School Dhaka Parents Forum.
Omar told Dhaka Tribune: “The school authorities sent emails several times for payment of tuition fees online for the next quarterly time frame.
“We are facing a financial crisis right now as the global pandemic imposed barriers on economic growth of our country as well. The waiver will allow us to adjust our social responsibilities for our drivers, house helps, and the helpless accordingly,” he added.
He added: “We also want a full-fledged waiver on transportation fees except for the drivers’ wages as we want to pay them.”
Barrister Farouq alleged that the school authorities tried to increase the fees during the lockdown but backtracked after guardians protested.
When contacted, DPS-STS School Dhaka Principal Harsh Wal said via email: “During these times of hardship, DPS STS School is supporting the parents in various ways including communicating them through email categorically, that all due tuition fees can be paid within a fortnight at the end of the current government holidays.
“To further support the parents, we have also decided that there will be no tuition fee hike in 2020-2021, plus yearly tuition fee payment has been converted into 10 installments instead of 4,” he wrote.
Harsh added: “We are also proactively negotiating with credit card companies to pay tuition fees at 0% EMI (interest-free) which will allow parents to absorb any difficulty faced during this situation.
“It was also communicated that no transport fee will be charged during the period of the public holiday. Any money already collected for the said period will be credited when the service resumes,” the principal claimed.
The parents of this very school have to pay around Tk25,000 a month for A-level students and around Tk18,000-20,000 per month for junior classes till O-level.
The nursery level students have to pay around Tk12,000-15,000 as tuition fees to the school.
The transportation fees are set Tk48,000 annually for inside Uttara while Bashundhara residents have to pay Tk72,000 for using the transport facility.
Tk90,000 also has been set this year for the residents of Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, and Baridhara (DOHS).
Installment facilities are also available for all kinds of fees.
