Teacher, jewellery shop employee forced to sell idlis for paying school fee of their children

Jamshedpur: The second wave of corona epidemic is still continuing. Lockdown and Health Safety Week have forced all the schools and jewellery shops to remain closed. This has brought untold financial misery to a large section of the society.

Those from middle and lower classes are are facing a lot of problems as business has come to a standstill and job markets have shrunk.

There are many who have been compelled to look for alternative means of livelihood.

Schools and educational institutions have been closed for a long time. Those who run play schools for children too have been forced to close down their business due to the lockdown rules. A teacher of a play school in Sonari Kumharpara Pinky and an employee of a jewellery shop Rekha Devi have set up a shop for selling idlis on the streets to somehow support their livelihood.

Both the enterprising women say that despite the closure of the schools during Corona pandemic period, the schools of their own children have been demanding payment of fees.

They said that there is a concern that the children might be thrown out of their schools if fee are not paid on time by them. They said that they were forced to set up an idli shop to support their children’s education.

They said that they keep their shop open only for 4 hours. After calling it a day, they hold the table from both sides and return home on foot.

They said that their children too help them sometimes.

Rekha Devi said that there is a real fear of their children’s names being struck off the school if the school fees are not deposited.

On the other hand, Dr Umesh Kumar, president, Abhibhawak Sangh, said that corona has impacted the studies of children in a big way. He said that the middle classes are facing a lot of problems. He said that the private schools have increased the school feel by 15% and they are also asking parents to pay up annual charges. He said that this is open violation of government directives.

He said that the government should take cognisance of the matter and take action against defaulter schools.

He said that the government should also extend a helping hand to the people of middle class in the same way as food grains are being provided to BPL families.