HC seeks govt’s reply on PIL seeking school fees exemption
PRAYAGRAJ : The Allahabad high court asked the state government and authorities concerned to file their reply on a petition seeking exemption of school fees of private schools during lockdown period and promotion of students up to Class 8, without conducting any examination, until physical classes resume in the state.
The bench comprising chief justice Govind Mathur and justice Siddhartha Varma passed the order on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Masoom Bachpan Foundation, a trust.
The petitioner (the trust) had raised the issue of health hazards among children caused by prolonged exposure to electromagnetic waves emitted by laptop/ computer/ mobile screens during online classes.
The petitioner pleaded, “Electronic devices have a huge impact on anxiety or stress level, logical thinking, memory, mood and mental stability of tiny tots. Therefore, several educationists have suggested no examination system.”
It had urged the court to issue a direction to education authorities to promote students of primary classes to the next class for the academic session 2020-21 without conducting examinations. According to the petitioner, during lockdown no educational institution was open and, therefore, no fee from students for that period can be charged. Certain instances had been pointed out where fee was demanded by certain educational institutions. The petitioner had also sought regulation of accounts of unaided schools, including fee of students and salary of teachers.
The court fixed December 4 as the next date of hearing in the case.