Schools should charge fees proportionate to the grades completed: Kerala child rights panel

The petitioner said her child was not allowed to attend the online class by the school.

The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has said that if a child discontinues studies midway in a school in the State, the institution should collect only the amount proportionate to the time the child studied there and return the rest from the money charged by it under any head at the time of admission for the period up to the completion of school education. Acting on a petition from a woman in Thrissur district, the commission of members Fr. Philip Parakatt and K. Nazeer on Thursday directed the Director of General Education, CBSE Regional Officer, and the Chief Executive and Secretary of the CISCE to issue circulars to schools asking them to follow the panel’s direction. The petitioner said her child had taken admission to LKG in a Thrissur school in 2019-20. When she entered class 1 this year, on the first day of the school year, she was not allowed to attend the online class by the school, much to her mental anguish. When contacted, the school cited a shortfall of ₹1,500 in the fee paid earlier. The petitioner said that in the wake of COVID-19 her husband had lost his job and also suffered an accident, leading to delay in fee payment.