6,000 children quit Rohtak private schools amid Covid crisis

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, June 6

Over 6,000 students of private schools in the district have sought the “School Leaving Certificate” (SLC) in the last two months.

A majority of them are likely to shift to government schools as the Covid-induced lockdown has hit their parents’ earnings hard. Rohtak has more than 400 private schools affiliated to the CBSE and the Haryana board. “The Covid situation has hampered my work, hence I cannot afford the hefty school fee of my son. Besides the tuition fee, the school is also demanding admission and annual charges. So, I have decided to shift him to a government school where the fee is nominal and books are also provided free of cost,” said Naresh, a taxi driver.

Amit, a shopkeeper, said there was no need to pay exorbitant fees to private schools when offline classes would remain off this year too due to the possibility of a third wave of Covid. “My friend and I have applied for the SLCs of our children in order to shift them to a government school,” he added.

A private school owner said he had so far issued over 50 SLCs and the count was only likely to go up in the coming days. Anshul Pathania, Secretary, Rohtak CBSE School Association, said the number of applications for SLC had doubled this year as compared to the first wave of Covid.

“Till now, more than 2,500 children have sought the SLC from private schools affiliated to the CBSE and a majority of them are likely to join government schools. Some have left the schools without any information. There are also a considerable number of children who have not yet deposited the fee but are attending online classes,” he added.

Ravinder Nandal, President, Haryana Private School Sangh, said over 3,500 children of private schools affiliated to the Haryana board had got the SLC issued. A majority of them belonged to the lower middle class.