Parents forced to pay children’s fee for quarantine period

KABUL (Pajhwok): Education experts say private schools reserve no right to ask for tuition fee from students of quarantine period when they provided no services.

They say private schools’ administration in coordination with the Ministry of Education acted like mafia and obtained fee from students of quarantine days during which they provided no service.

Pajhwok Afghan News contacted families in capital Kabul and held discussions with them in this regard.

The interviewed families were worried about tuition fee for the Jawza and Saratan months of the solar year when the government imposed quarantine and closed schools.

These families accuse the Ministry of Education (MoE) of taking side with private schools and say economic problems these families faced during the period were ignored and the decision was taken in the interest of these schools.

This comes as on Wednesday, a verbal clash turned violent between director of SaleemKarwan High school in ArzanQaimat area of Kabul and Hukam Khan Habibi, former Governor of Khost province over the non-payment of school fee.

Students’ parents: We paid ransom to private schools

Basir Ahmad, whose four children are studying in Jahan No. 04 School in ParojaTaimani, criticized private school behavior and said the school was open for seven days in two months of quarantine but it sought complete fees for the two months.

He said he was forced to pay the two months fee after the school administration threatened to deprive his children of midterm examination.

He said in the past examinations were held daily but this time in order to spend more days, schools asked students to take one day break during examination.

ZabihullahQureshi, another Kabul resident, said his daughter was student of class 3 at Khana-e-Noor high school and he was forced to pay two month-fee for quarantine days.

Abdul HadiSarwar also complained against the behavior of private school administration and said her daughter was asked to pay fee for Jawza and Saratan months when schools were off during these months.

He said his daughter was issued warning to pay fee otherwise she would not be allowed to sit half-way examination.

In a letter to students’ parents, the NawaiDewa School urged parents to clear financial dues of their children for Jawza and Saratan months in line with MoE and school administration policy.

Social media activists accuse private schools, MoE of open robbery:

MehranSabourKohistani, a social media user, said everyone knew that government had closed schools in Jawza and Saratan months and announced quarantine.

“Private schools oppress people in this sensitive situation. Despite poverty, they ask families to pay the fee by threatening to exclude their children from the exam.”

He also wrote that a number of schools took fee of these two months from students but they did not pay salaries to teachers.

SamiullahSharifi, another Facebook user wrote, most parents were forgiven 20 days of fee of Jawza and now school administration and MoE demanded parents to pay fee for Saratan. It is an open robbery of private schools and MoE.

Private School Teachers: Schools don’t pay our Jawza, Saratan salary

A teacher from a private school, who wished not to be named, said the school administration forced students to pay Jawza and Saratan fee but they did not pay teachers their salaries for these months.

He said no school staff dared to question non-payment of their salaries and if they demanded so, they will be faced with bad behavior of school administration or may be expelled from the school.

He said their school did not pay teachers’ salaries in last year’s quarantine as well.

Private schools acted as mafia in collusion with MoE, MoPH: Experts

Abdul JabbarAbid, a member of Academy of Sciences of Kabul, told Pajhwok that schools that did not provide services to students during the quarantine were not entitled to take fees.

He said that some schools told students that they would not be allowed to enter to the school until they paid the two months fees of the quarantine time.

Abid called the action from school officials as brutal and unjust and an indication of rampant corruption in the Ministry of Education. “The income of families at the current time is very low and they are struggling with a lot of economic problems,” he said.

He said that online education had no major issues, but it was impractical for lower grade students.

SalimaSediqi, a civil society activist, said, “Unfortunately it is obvious that private schools acted in collusion with MoE and MoPH like a mafia.”

He said that the school officials offered reason of taking fees that they had to pay salaries of their teachers.

Response from private schools and their association:

MasihullahHamdard, principle of SalmiKarwan Private School about the complaints of parents regarding students’ fees during quarantine, said that based on the MoE decision, schools were entitled to take 50 percent of fees for July even if they did not provide education services.

“Had the recess been decided by schools, students should not have paid their fees but the recess was decided by the MoE, so schools are entitled to take the fee”, he said.

Hamdard said that their school was ready for providing online education, but students’ parents showed little interest and that was the reason the process stopped.

He said that they received fees for June and August, but did not receive the fees for July as no services were provided to students.

Meanwhile, an official of Khana-i-Noor High School said that they provided education to their students online during the quarantine and they were entitled to fees.

Pajhwok also shared parents’ complaints about their children fees during quarantine with Giti, principle of NawiDiwa International School, but she declined to comment on the regard.

However, Daud Shah Babar, head of Private Schools Association, said that some schools provided their services to students online, contents on CDs or flash drives and books for study at home.

He said that schools in previous years were granting 20 days of winter recess to students, but this year the recess had been suspended and students were given 15 days off during July and charged only 15 other days.

Based on the MoE’s new plan, final exams this year would start on 5 or 11 of December, unlike previous years when it was started on November 22, and this would take back the academic year by 15 days.

About the fees of students whose teachers were not paid by their school, he said that they did not receive any complaints on the regard, but schools were responsible to pay salaries to their teachers from their income.

Student fees during quarantine created problems for parents and schools:

Former Khost governor, Hakam Khan Habibi beat up the principle of SalimKarwan High School for taking fees from his children.

MasihullahHamdard, principle of SalimKarwan High School said that former Khost governor, Hakam Khan Habibi and two other men entered the school and then beat him after a verbal dispute.

Children of Habibi are studying in this school, but they did not pay the fees for June and August, he said. However, Habibi rejected the claim of Hamdard and said that he did not beat him.

Hamdard said that despite MoE asked parents to pay 50 percent of their children’s fees for private schools for the month of July, but schools did not demand the fee for the month.

Ministry of Education:

Najiba Arian, spokesperson of MoE about allegations of the ministry’s collusion with private schools or made the decision in interest of schools, did not provide information.

She shared only a link of a meeting of AttaullahWahedyar, deputy MoE minister, who spoke on the issue a few days ago.

Wahedyar in the meeting had said that families were responsible to pay 50 percent of their children’s fees to private schools for the months of quarantine.

He had said that private schools had paid the salaries of their teachers during the period.

This report has been produced by Pajhwok and financially supported by UNDP and Denmark.

Nh/mds/ma

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