Indian schools give relief worth over OMR1 million to students, families

Muscat: The total value of the relief measures provided by the Indian schools in Oman to the students during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is about OMR1.1 million.
The relief measures, which were organised for students who attended Indian schools as well as their families, were set up to reduce the impact of the disease. Measures put in place include reduction and postponement of payment of school fees, counselling services, and even the distribution of food to those who require it.
Explaining the various relief measures put in place, Dr Baby Sam Saamuel, the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman, said, “As of now the Indian schools have provided relief worth OMR1.1 million. We are a group of not-for-profit, unaided schools, established under the guidelines of the Ministry of Education. We do not get any aid from outside, and we depend on fees as our sole source of revenue, both for our operations and our growth.
“Our fees are the lowest in the region,” he added. “Keeping that in mind, given our own financial constraints, we have introduced various relief measures to our fee structure. We began by deferring the fee hike proposed for this academic year, we gave options to parents to remit their fees in a monthly manner, instead of in a quarterly manner, and with effects from the months of May to August 2020, the school is collecting only tuition fee from the students.”
Irrespective of whether a student attending an Indian school, or one of their parents tests positive for COVID-19, school management have been instructed to provide a 50 per cent reduction in fees, until the end of the 2021 academic year for that student.
“We have also announced a 50 per cent concession on tuition fees, until the end of the 2021 academic year, should any member of the Indian school family, be it a parent or a student, find themselves in the unfortunate situation of contracting the virus or become COVID-19 positive, during this term, and if they are financially challenged,” added Saamuel.
“If any parent requires a fee concession for any reason – if their job is at stake, or they have not been paid during this period – we have requested that these cases be considered positively, provided the supportive documents have been submitted to the schools.”
“We have gone beyond these fee-related measures. Across all of the 21 schools, we have set up a hotline on our Indian school campuses, where even food kits are provided for those in need, and we also have similar access to safeguard the mental health of our parents and students, through a counselling service titled ‘Here for You: Let’s Talk’,” he said.