Fee Waivers, As the banter of the coronavirus cash-crunch hits hard on all of our pockets, the odds of parents facing a particularly hard time trying to remunerate their children’s exorbitant private-school fees are, perhaps, at an all-time high. To ease the parents’ stress, several state governments have introduced measures to ensure that private schools do not insist on collecting fees during the lockdown imposed in the wake of the pandemic.
Fee Waivers, As many as 10 states, including Punjab and Bihar, have imposed certain restrictions on the collection fees or asked schools to consider deferring collection or waiving them altogether.
Jharkhand HRD Minister Jagarnath Mahto on the 29th of March asked the state’s private to not take tuition and transportation fees from parents reopen, as many parents are struggling to cope with the crisis occurred due to the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
The Karnataka government ordered to not collect fees on March 24 and reiterated its directions on March 30. In a similar incident, Maharashtra issued a circular in late March telling schools not to insist on fees and schedule collection once schools reopen.
Haryana directed all private across the state to not pressurise the parents to deposit any fees until the lockdown period is over, reported ANI on April 3. The next day, Tamil Nadu education minister, KA Sengottaiyan warned private school managements against collecting fees during the nationwide lockdown.
The Times of India reported on April 8 that Uttar Pradesh government told not to collect three months’ fees in advance.
On April 9, Rajasthan barred private schools from taking advanced fees for three months, according to a report by the Press Trust of India. Later that day, ANI reported that Punjab has not only directed schools not to take fees but also, it has taken action against about 50 such institutions for not complying.
The next day, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik advised all private educational institutions to consider reduction or deferment of school fees from April to June via Twitter.
On April 13, the education department of Bihar directed all private schools not to take any fee, including transportation charges, for the lockdown period of March and April. Only those schools conducting online classes have been allowed to take tuition fee.
However, in certain states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, there is no clarity among parents about whether no fees will be charged during the period or they will have to be paid later. There is widespread confusion among the parents as they implore the government to shed light on these reforms.
