Govt must resolve school fee issue, say BJP leaders

Chamarajanagar MP V Srinivas Prasad and MLC A H Vishwanath urged the state government to take necessary action in connection with the private school demanding fees and blocking the students from online classes for non-payment of fee.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, the leaders said that the government must come out with a proper measure on the issue.

Srinivas Prasad said, "The government must intervene and resolve the issue of private schools demanding fee from parents amidst the Covid-19 crisis. Schools are under the government and the government is not under the schools."

MLC A H Vishwanath said, "The government and the Education department should look into the issue. When no school is open, and not conducting offline classes, it is not right to demand fees. The government should take strict action and the Education Minister S Suresh Kumar must look into it."

However, private education institutions claim that it is not possible to run schools without collecting fees. "Though there are no offline classes, teachers are conducting classes online and we have to pay them salary and invest on maintenance of the schools,” said an administrator of a reputed private school.

“Let the government take over private schools until Covid-19 is eradicated. Let them maintain the schools and pay teachers' salaries. Is it possible for us to pay from the pocket?" asked another school manager.

However, teachers claim that many schools are misusing the Covid crisis. "A majority of the schools have collected fees, but they are not paying salaries. Since the outbreak of Covid, we are receiving only half the salary. Though 80% of the parents have paid full fees, school authorities claim that only 10% parents have paid the fees. The Education department must act against schools misusing the situation," said a teacher.