Private schools can collect only 70% fees this year
In a relief for parents of children studying in private schools in Karnataka, primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar on Friday said the education department will allow schools to collect only 70% of the tuition fees this academic year in view of the pandemic.
The fee reduction is only for this academic year and applies to schools under all boards. The state government has the authority to prescribe fees based on the Karnataka Education Act 1983 and under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the minister said.
The annual tuition fee is spent towards salaries of teachers, non-teaching staff and facilities like library, lab and sports. The fees that cannot be collected this year includes development fee, donation to trust or society, optional services like transportation and extracurricular activities, the department said.
If parents have already paid the full year’s fee, school managements should refund or adjust it against the next year’s component. Parents will be given an option of paying the fee in 2-3 instalments, said the minister.
Kumar said they made the decision after several meetings with school managements and parents’ associations, and discussed the issue with the CM. Schools held only online classes till December, and started campus learning on January 1 for classes 10 and 12.
The government had, in the beginning of the academic year, asked schools not to increase fees this academic year. It had given nod to collect the first-term fee in September. Later, parents complained that schools were forcing them to pay full-year fees and blocking classes for children who had not paid up. Schools argued they need money to run the establishment and pay salaries.
The government said it will set up a grievance redressal system at DDPI level to address complaints on fee. Thanking the minister for the decision, parents’ associations said they were expecting a 50% cut in tuition fees. “We will discuss this with members. We got result after several protests and detentions in police station,” said Chidanand PE, state secretary, Voice of Parents.
