In the past three years, due to the epidemic, schools in many places have intermittently suspended offline classes and switched to online classes. Especially in the second half of 2022, students in some places do not have as much time attending classes at school as they do online classes at home. Due to the epidemic, online classes are being held at home. Some parents think that schools should refund part of the tuition fees. Is this appropriate? I think it should be divided into the following three situations.
First of all, if the child is in a public school in the compulsory education stage, there is no fee, so there is no refund. However, if there are pre-charged delayed service fees, meal fees, etc., because the school does not provide corresponding services, these fees should be refunded to the students. Or after communication between the school and parents, the fees paid can be postponed to the next semester, which can reduce the workload of refunds.
Secondly, in private schools. I think it should be resolved through negotiation and an appropriate refund. The relationship between private schools and students is essentially an "educational service contract". Private schools must charge various fees, but offline teaching changes the way the contract is performed, and the corresponding payment content should be changed. Because the breach of contract was caused by the epidemic, the school does not assume liability for breach of contract. However, although the teachers conducted online teaching and tutoring, the students did not occupy any of the school's hardware resources, such as classrooms, playgrounds, dormitories, restaurants, etc., as well as some corresponding expenses such as water and electricity. To be fair, the school should refund the fees appropriately.
The third is some social training institutions, such as dance classes and painting classes. If they fail to fulfill their offline teaching responsibilities, they should negotiate changes or continue to perform. If they cannot negotiate and continue to perform, should refund all training fees for the unfulfilled portion.
The above are some common situations on whether to refund during online classes. Because it is due to the epidemic, neither party is at fault and should understand each other and negotiate together to resolve the issue.
However, recently, public opinion about refunds broke out in a private school in a county in Henan. Not only did the school not refund fees, but it also had to collect tuition fees after the new year in advance. As a result, parents gathered in front of the school and pulled up banners to protest the school's practice of not refunding fees but charging fees, which caused a great impact in the local area.
Therefore, the school should do the refund-related work at the front, negotiate with the parent committee or student parent representatives on refund-related matters, formulate a good plan for implementation, and set up a consultation hotline to respond to parents' questions, instead of passing the buck or ignoring each other. Otherwise, it will be like parents protesting at the school gate - parents' money is not brought by the strong wind, and must be refunded! In this way, school work becomes more and more passive, which also damages the relationship between home and school.
