Indian Schools Board to examine case of students sent home for not paying fees

Muscat: Investigations into the case of three students enrolled at an Indian school in Muscat who were allegedly sent home because their family could not afford to pay their school fees is being looked into by the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in the Sultanate of Oman.

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“This has been brought to our attention and we are looking into it,” said a senior official of the Board. “We have many mechanisms to provide fee reduction programmes for school-going students in the country if they are unable to afford the fees. No child in our education system will be compelled to stay at home because they are unable to pay the fees. We have dealt with such cases before and will provide an outcome that benefits the students here as well.”
“We have had many parents who have come to us with genuine reasons,” he explained. “We must look at these situations from a humanitarian standpoint and be flexible with such cases. We are not for-profit organisation, so we will definitely look into these things. If there is a valid reason or an issue surrounding this case, we will definitely accommodate him as best as we can.”
The Board official added that if the children could not be accommodated in their current school, they would be moved to one that was willing to accept them.
“We have so many ways to accommodate the children, looking at the convenience of students, if we find that the parents’ reasoning is valid,” he explained. “No child is deprived of education in the Indian schooling system here...that is for certain, and if any of these issues are brought either to ourselves or the school management committees (SMCs), then we will go the extra mile to ensure they continue to receive education.”
“We don’t turn away people who come to us with fee relaxation requests,” he added. “In fact, we are at the moment supporting many students across all our schools. In addition, we work with our own alumni associations here to see if they can take any efforts. We also approach community and charitable organisations here to see if they can lend a helping hand, should we need it, so there are many ways in which we can definitely help students. If there is a child sitting at home because the family cannot afford to pay fees, then we will definitely try to support that family.”