JOIN USCoronavirus: Karnataka private school principals seek guidelines for institutions, parents
Private school principals, under Mysore Sahodaya School Conference, have urged the government to issue guidelines for both, institutions and also parents, in the interest of teachers and other staff of schools, in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.
Members of Mysore Sahodaya School Conference, lead by president Krishna Bangera, met Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar in Bengaluru recently and presented a memorandum, to this effect.
K G Mathew, principal of Excel Public School, said, “The lockdown of educational institutions due to Covid-19, has brought unprecedented hardships to employees of private educational institutions. Many managements are unable to pay salaries to both teaching and non-teaching staff, citing non-receipt of annual fees from parents. The lives of thousands of employees revolve around these institutions, since many years. With no source of income and with no alternative occupation, their future has become uncertain.”
“While teachers are busy, engaging students in online classes, parents, in many cases, do not seem to be in a mood to pay the fees, neither in full nor in part, as there is no clarity on reopening of schools,” he pointed out.
Mathew said, “Representatives of Mysore Sahodaya School Conference, an association of schools affiliated to CBSE of Mysuru and neighbouring districts, requested the intervention of Education Minister Suresh Kumar, in addressing the problems faced by employees of private unaided educational institutions."
"The delegation requested the minister to direct the parents, who are capable of paying the school fees, to do so, like in many other states. We also referred to the recent orders of various High Courts, favouring collection of fees by schools to meet their operational expenses, including payment of salaries to staff," he said.
“We requested the minister to safeguard the employment and financial stability of staff of these institutions. There is a need to set up a ‘relief and grievance cell’ in every district, to address the concerns of the employees of this unorganised sector,” he said.
Earlier, Sahodaya representatives met Mysuru district in-charge Minister S T Somasekhar, MP Pratap Simha and Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar and submitted separate memorandum in this connection. The delegation included William Pushparaj and Rajeshwar Iyer.