Pay up school fees or leave, Brookhouse owner tells disgruntled parents
The standoff between the owner of Brookhouse and parents has taken a dramatic twist after the owner of the prestigious learning institution has told parents who cannot afford to pay school fees to leave.
Parents and guardians of the School last week moved to court and got a reprieve after the High Court ordered the institution to offset 50 percent of the third term’s schools fees as well as stop online classes for pupils in kindergarten up to those in Year Four.
UNREASONABLE
Justice Weldon Korir issued a temporary order in the case in which parents of the private international school moved to the corridors of justice to protest against payment of full school fees during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well as challenged the quality of online learning.
This decision seems to have irked the owner who has now given parents unwilling to comply with the school’s demands the option taking their children to other schools.
“I would rather have 40 percent of the school population paying 100 percent of the tuition than have 100 percent of the population paying 40 percent of tuition,” said the owner.
The Brookhouse owner also termed Kenyan parents at the school as unreasonable.
“We gave you a distress fund which has little uptake because you are too embarrassed to take up a distress fund. Your demands are unreasonable and if you cannot afford to pay for services of my school, you have options; LEAVE,” the owner said to in a letter to the parents.
According to the owner, he has invested 25 million dollars to put up the best facility in Africa and is not ready to make losses.
REPERCUSSIONS
“There is no way I am going to run a loss-making venture.”
According to the owner, Kenyan parents chose the school, not because it has the best education but because it is a premium brand.
“Today, I am taking on the pain and all impact, however, should this matter prevail and proceed in court, there will be dramatic repercussions,” he said.
He blasted those parents who demanded the breakdown of finances saying it was his business and he has no business disclosing how he uses his money to “strangers.”
Following the confirmation of Kenya’s first case of coronavirus on March 13, schools closed indefinitely and that period was recently extended by one month among measures aimed at stopping the spread of the disease countrywide.
Most schools, including Brookhouse, opted to continue learning via emails, WhatsApp and other online platforms such as Zoom. At Brookhouse, the school gave parents only 10 percent discount from the normal fees.