No increase in tuition fees for next 3 years: English medium students’ parents demand

A section of guardians of English medium students today demanded that the schools should not increase tuition and session fees for the next three academic years, taking the Covid-19 situation into account.

Talking at the launching ceremony of Bangladesh English School Parents' Association at National Press Club, they also demanded to form a regulatory body to monitor the activities of English medium schools.

The association also arranged a roundtable on "English Medium Education: Opportunities and Challenges during Covid-19" at the launching ceremony.

Parents said that access to online education for any student should not be cancelled due to delayed or non-payment of tuition fees in this crisis.

Bangladesh English School Parents' Association Convenor Prof Masud A Khan said that there is a perception that only students coming from affluent families are enrolled in English medium schools, which is not true. He urged all English medium schools to meet their demands as they were rational.

Organisers also said that they are against any commercialisation of education.

Association's co-convenor Mohammad Jahirul Islam placed 14-point demand including forming of the school management committee with two male guardians and a female guardian representative.

All schools should have child safeguard policy to control bullying, discrimination, physical harassment and abuse. These schools should follow the same grading system and should have a website with detailed information like reports on the whole school environment, audited financial statement, admission and tuition fees and others.

Several guardians while talking at the programme said that the authorities of many schools are barring students whose parents have been failing or delaying to pay the tuition fees amid the Covid-19 situation.

They said this is humiliating for the parents as well as putting mental pressure on the students.

They said that they send their children to the English medium schools aiming to make them global citizens but on many occasions the quality of education in many schools is subpar.

Parents Association Advisor and ruling lawmaker Professor Dr Habib -E- Millat said in absence of regulatory body it becomes difficult to oversee these schools...................