Dubai: Some parents of students who are leaving Delhi Private School (DPS) Academy mid-term have confirmed that they have received an email from the school management about getting a refund for the remaining months of this term, November and December, 2016.

But many parents complained that the mail was sent on Wednesday at 11am with a deadline set at 12 noon, leaving them with little time to respond within the deadline.

The Delhi Private School (DPS) Academy at Dubai International Academic city announced on October 17 its closure in March 2017 after the current academic year, sending shock waves among parents of its 430 students. The school, which opened in 2013, got an acceptable rating from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) and follows the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) curriculum.

The circular sent by the school on Wednesday informed parents that they would be getting the refund provided they responded by 12 noon the same day and those who apply after 12 noon would not be entitled to the refund. Parents have called this decision unprofessional and insensitive on the part of the school management as they say they were not even given a grace period.

Rabia Tanzeen, whose daughter Rida, a grade 7 student who applied for a Transfer Certificate at 2pm on Wednesday, was livid. “How can a school which gave us notice less than ten days ago of its closure give us such a deadline? We were thrown off guard and scrambled to look for another school. We have to consider things such as the distance of the school from home, our budget and my daughter was in fact writing the entrance test at another school at 1.55pm when I rushed to apply for the Transfer Certificate. I did that without even knowing if Rida would get into the other school and now I stand to lose Dh3,000 of my hard-earned money. How can the school expect us to act so quickly, and not give us notice earlier? Is it like buying tomatoes or apples where we can walk into any supermarket [and pick them up?]. This is the future of our daughter,” she said.

She added that she had made a representation to the principal of the school, Ambika Gulati, who told her that the school’s management would look into her case.

There were similar protests from Mohammad Hanif whose two children, Rayan in Grade 2, and Nada in Grade 7, applied for their TC today after 1pm only after getting confirmation of their admission elsewhere. He stands to lose Dh12,000 as he had paid up for the full academic year.

Puja Purohit, whose son, Nilay Raj Purohit, was in grade 5 at the school, was told by the management that they would ‘consider’ her case. She had applied for a TC at 1.30pm on Wednesday as she says she was struggling in long queues at different schools to secure admission for her son.

Priya Dave, mother of a student from Grade 1, said she and many of her friends had received the mail from the school which specifically mentioned that all parents who had applied for a Transfer Certificate on or before October 25 (from the day of the announcement of the closure on October 17) would be entitled to the refund and that the school had later extended the deadline to 12 noon on October 26. The mail from the school also clarified that first-time students who had got books and school uniforms complimentary as a joining incentive would be charged 50 per cent of the original amount. The amount would be calculated and deducted from the school’s term fee deposit.

Angela Mathew, the mother of Ruchika from grade 6, had a more complicated case where she applied for a TC earlier but the school encashed a cheque for December that she had earlier submitted. “We are applying for a refund. How can the school encash a cheque for a service it has not yet provided?” she questioned.

Meanwhile she had to pay advance fees at another school to secure admission for her daughter.