Anger as closed school in Dhaka collecting tuition fees amid coronavirus lockdown

Even as educational institutions across Bangladesh have been closed for over a month due to the coronavirus outbreak, Dhaka’s South Point School and College has taken a different path to collect fees.

Many may not visit the school to pay the fees amid the lockdown and stay-at-home order, the institution figured. And so it has launched a system to take payments through mobile financial services like bKash, Nagad and Rocket.

Some parents expressed anger over the school’s attitude of collecting fees by any means amid the pandemic.

Its Principal Hamida Ali says they have no other ways but to collect the fees because none of the teachers get any facility from the government, such as Monthly Pay Order or MPO.

The institution with branches at Uttara, Banani, Mirpur, Malibagh and Baridhara has more than 1,300 teachers for 12,500 students.

A parent of a student at the Baridhara branch, on condition of anonymity, said the institution sent a text message notifying him about payment through bKash.

“It’s unacceptable!” the parent fumed.

Another guardian said he had to pay the tuition for the month of April even though he could barely afford it due to the lockdown.

“They could collect the payment later. But we will be charged fines if we pay after Apr 30,” he said.

The SMS to the parents from the school read:

"Dear parents, Request to pay Tuition Fees by 30 Apr without fine by bkash no 01766975719 as following instruction:

1. Go to payment option.

2. Add student ID number (see paybook), short name, class, month's name (like Mar/Apr) in reference.

3. Counter 1

For details visit

spbaridhara.eduplusbd.com"

Principal Hamida told bdnews24.com all the teachers were giving online lessons to the students, assigning homework and checking those as well.

“None of our teachers gets a single penny from the government. Tuition is our only source of income. We pay the teachers salaries and manage other expenses from the earnings,” she said.

“The month of Ramadan is almost upon us. If we do not get the tuition fees, how will we pay our teachers?” Hamida asked.

Anyone facing trouble to pay the fees during the coronavirus outbreak can  inform the school authorities and they will consider it, she added.

The government announced closure of all offices and courts from Mar 26. The holidays will continue until May 5 at the earliest.

Earlier, the government closed all educational institutions and private coaching centres from Mar 17.

Syed Md Golam Faruk, director general of secondary and higher education, pointed out a dilemma facing the government over the issue.

The non-MPO institutions will not be able to pay teachers if they do not collect tuition fees while many parents are facing difficulty in paying the fees due to the shutdown that has heavily impacted their finances, he said.