Kolkata: Parents of students of different private schools in Kolkata have staged a demonstration, demanding 50 per cent waiver of tuition fees.
Around 100 parents, under the banner of the United Guardians' Association, staged the demonstration at College Square on Wednesday.
They also reached out to the Chief Minister's Office, demanding her intervention on the issue if the private schools do not heed to their pleas.
"We demand that the school authorities take only the tuition fees from guardians this year and waive other charges such as transport, development and electricity," said Supriyo Bhattacharya, the convenor of the association.
"We also demand that the schools should charge only 50 per cent of the tuition fee and the schools that have taken the full amount already should return the half of it," he said.
Bhattacharya said if the demands are not met, the guardians will start a bigger movement. "Guardians are not in a position to pay full fees due to the economic hardships caused by the lockdown," he said.
Many guardians also staged protests in front of a private school in the Ranikuthi area in south Kolkata. Demonstrations also took place outside a school in the Chandni Chowk area in central Kolkata.
Besides, some parents also protested against fee hike at a school in Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district. There has been a series of protests in the past one month against hike in school fees in different parts of the city, and the state.