PRIVATE schools have begun looking at cutting their tuition fees as a means to ease the strain on parents or families who may be impacted financially by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Beaconhouse Group of Schools and Taylor's Schools have announced 15 and 10 per cent fees reduction respectively in view of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and school closure.
For Beaconhouse, the reduction in fees will apply to all its 14 schools in Malaysia from pre-schools to secondary schools, benefiting close to 3,000 students and their families. The fees for the MCO extension period will be reimbursed.
Beaconhouse Malaysia Southeast Asia regional director Alister Bartholomew said: "We understand the financial burden that some families may be facing amid school closure and economic slowdown.
"We are proud to be one of the first schools in the country to extend this gesture of goodwill to help the parents of our beloved students in these difficult times. Learning mustn't stop, no matter what."
He added that the school's top priority is the continuation of student education regardless of the surrounding situation.
"This is part of our promise for holistic and life-long learning. Even though we are all at home playing our part to flatten the curve, our commitment to enriching our students continues," said Bartholomew.
"Despite such short notice we are pleased with the progress of our online teaching and learning platform, which is becoming more comprehensive and meaningful in its rollout every day.
"Beaconhouse has launched Beaconhouse Schooling Uninterrupted -- a robust virtual learning system providing a full spectrum of learning opportunities for its students.
"This is all thanks to our ever-committed teaching staff, our committed students and their dedicated parents," he added.
Taylor's Schools president BK Gan said: "The 10 per cent deduction is applicable to all Taylor's Schools students for the current term. On top of that, we have offered flexible payment terms to parents as well.
"This pandemic is creating many uncertainties, hardships and huge impacts on many lives. Hence, our immediate response was to come up with measures to help parents with the school fees."
"However, after the announcement of the fee reduction, International schools received pressure from some parents to offer greater discounts, Taylor's included."
At the beginning of the MCO, he expected that cash flow would be the main challenge.
"I would like to clarify that the amount that our schools will save for campus closure is minimal, as most of the school's operating cost comes from committed staffing cost. There is the added possibility of student loss for various reasons in the near future.
"If private schools are to survive through this crisis, they need to build these assumptions into their cash flow calculations. As such, against the backdrop of more uncertainties and challenges ahead of us, we have offered the discount with the intention of supporting our community," he continued.
"All academic staff are working hard to provide continuation of learning online, and our teachers are committed to ensure that the learning is not compromised for our students and lessons are delivered at the best possible levels.
"We are constantly conducting surveys and connecting with our student and parent community to obtain feedback and comments on how we can improve their online learning experience and tweak our lessons based on what works for our students," he said.
