Gujarat Government directs Unaided Schools not to collect fees from students during the lockdown

Gujarat State Government has asked the self-finance schools in the state not to collect the tuition fee from students as long as the schools are shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has also asked the schools not to increase the fee for the 2020-21 academic year.

In a notification released, the state education department mentioned that none of the schools will expel students from classes 1 to 8 or not depositing the tuition fee during the lockdown period, and doing so is a violation of Section 16 of the Right to Education Act. Students will also not be expelled for not depositing the tuition fee until June 30 as per the order of the Gujarat High Court. 

The HC has also asked the state government to work out modalities with private schools with regard to the fee. The directive was issued by the HC as per a PIL filed seeking a direction to private schools not to charge fees other than tuition fees and not increase the fee for the 2020-21 academic year. 

The state education department has clarified that many schools have either not paid the salary or paid only 40 to 50 percent salaries to the teaching and non-teaching staff members during the lockdown. 

The State Fee Regulatory Committee, according to the education department will be taking into consideration the actual expenditure incurred by the schools on the salaries of the teachers during the lockdown under Section 10 of Gujarat Self-financed School (Fee Regulation) Act, 2017. The tuition fee paid in advance by the parents will have to be adjusted in further by the schools, the department further added. 

The state education department has also stated that it will adopt the central government’s  PRAGYATA guidelines for digital education issued by the government and all the schools will have to follow the guidelines.

The education department has also added that all the schools are required to publicize the educational programmes broadcasted by the channels BISAG and DD Girnar so the students can continue the learning process during the lockdown. 

Textbooks with QR codes have also been supplied to the students in the government and aided schools to access additional materials to understand the subjects which are also available to the self-financed schools. 

With the lockdown along with conducting online classes, the schools have also made arrangements or student's to access study materials using different social media applications at home.

Also Read: Calcutta HC asks private schools to provide access to online classes until August 15