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Gurgaon parents lose fees as private schools follow no-refund policy.
As the admissions for nursery in Gurgaon have begun for the next academic year parents are grappling with the problem of no refund policy in private schools. Even the education authorities are not intervening making the situation worst for parents.
Sending their children to school has meant different things to parents at different times. In recent time it is turning out to be a nightmare for parents beginning right at the nursery level, at least in Gurgaon. As the admissions for nursery have begun for the next academic year parents are grappling with the problem of no refund policy in private schools. Even the education authorities are not intervening making the situation worst for parents.
Most Gurgaon private schools have arbitrarily set the percentage of non-refundable fees between 45% and 50% of the annual fee paid. The situation in Delhi is diametrically opposite where the portion of refundable fee is decided upon by education authorities. Due to this behaviour of schools, parents end up losing money on cancellations.
In Delhi, if a parent cancels the admission within a month of depositing fees, the school is within its right to deduct admission fees/registration fees and a month's tuition fees before refunding the balance within 15 days.
"Private schools in Gurgaon have created a monopoly charging by whatever they wish. It is very important for the government to intervene or else the parents will keep suffering the same way," said Jatin Gudwani, a parent who works with Castrol India. He wanted the city's education department to take a cue from Delhi in regulating the refund fees.
For 5 years, the state government has been ignoring pleas and complaints lodged by parents at various forums.
The absence of a refund policy is compounded due to admission procedures of different schools beginning at different times. The admission process lasts for 4 months, beginning mid of July while some coveted schools opening admissions in October. With no clarity on refund policies, parents are left confused.
"My son got through in DPS Sushant Lok, and the school authorities asked us to make a payment of ₹1 lakh. They told us they would refund only ₹40,000 in case of cancellation. Anyway, we did not pay the money, hoping he will make it to some other school. But that hasn't happened either and now I am out of options," said Neeta Saini, a parent and a teacher working with a government school.
The district school department officials agreed to have been receiving parent’s complaints.
Read the original story at www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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