Coronavirus lockdown: Varanasi school waives off fees of 500 students for 3 months

The principal of Varanasi’s Pushpa City Pride School decided to waive off fees for all students for three months, in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country.

As all schools across the country continue to be shut due to the coronavirus lockdown, the issue of paying school fees remains a bone of contention in states that have not officially decreed against the same. Several people are facing pay cuts and losing jobs due to the lockdown that has crippled the economy, and it may become increasingly difficult for them to pay the school fees of their children.

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With that thought in mind, the school’s principal Vachaspati Srivastava, after consultation with his mother Pushpa Srivastava, decided to waive off fees for the months of April, May, and June, Dainik Bhaskar reported.  Besides, he has offered to help out any parent who is in need.

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Srivastava had reportedly been receiving many calls from concerned parents about payment of school fees, which prodded him to discuss the matter with his 65-year-old mother.

She then asked him to not only waive off school fees, but also consider it his duty to help people who are suffering due to the lockdown. She also told him to continue paying salary to the 15-odd staffers at the school, who are like their “family”.

Notably, most government-run schools across the country, including in states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Telangana, have already told private schools to stop collecting fees, or take only tuition fees from parents in case they are conducting classes online.