Pvt schools challenge UT ban on fee collection

STANDOFF REACHES HC Court puts admn on notice, seeks reply by May 22

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday put the Chandigarh administration on notice on a plea from private schools challenging the UT’s move to bar schools from taking fee during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The petition has been filed by the local Independent Schools’ Association and seven private schools.

The city has 77 private schools, who have dragged the UT to high court.

“It is hoped that taking into account the urgency, the respondent-authority shall take an appropriate call by the next date of hearing, after hearing the petitioners,” the bench of justice Nirmaljit Kaur said, while posting the matter for further hearing on May 22, and asking the UT to file a reply within one week from Wednesday.

The petitioners had told court that the decision restraining schools from collection of fee is “without any basis and jurisdiction” and “totally arbitrary”. The institutes are bound to pay and disburse the salary of teachers and other staff, for which they need to generate funds, which is possible only through the fees collected from students, the court was told, adding that it was not the case that the parents did not have a source of income during this lockdown period.

BONE OF CONTENTION

The bone of contention between

the UT and schools are two orders from the administration on fee issue. While the March 30 order directs schools to reschedule the last date of collection of fee and funds for the 2020-21 session to a date at least one month after the reopening of schools, another communication under challenge is that of April 7, when the UT asked private schools to not send any message to parents for depositing fee.

The schools were warned that any violation would lead to withdrawal of recognition. Following this, schools approached the administration asking it to allow them to collect

fee or pay the salaries, a plea treated with cold shoulders by the UT.

The schools were asked to provide their balance sheets, which most of them did not agree to.

‘WE HAVE TO PAY SALARIES’

Now, the standoff continues and teachers and other staff members of these schools are waiting for their salaries, even for the month of April.

“Schools managements are conscious of the difficult times that the world is going through, but the respondents seems to have lost sight of

material aspect that all schools have taken steps to conduct online classes,” the court was told.

The court was also told that besides salaries, schools have other liabilities, such as taxes, electricity and water bills, and any kind of leeway to parents to not pay the fee would cause hardship to the schools and would have a cascading effect. The schools have also underlined the fact that it was not clear as to when lockdown would end, when schools would reopen and what sort of arrangements they would have to take to follow the norms of social distancing.