Gujarat High Court strikes down State govt resolution over school fees for online classes

Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court has struck down state government’s resolution asking private schools not to charge any fee from students till the schools are not opened for regular teaching. Schools had moved High Court against the resolution. With this the High Court has revoked clause of ‘no fees for online classes’ as provisioned in state education department’s circular for schools. The High Court has suggested contract revision with mutual consent between schools and parents.

Earlier:

Rebuffing the myth over parents’ displeasure towards the schools on payment of fees, Ahmedabad based Association of Progressive Schools (AOPS) had stormed the Twitter with their #SaveOurSchools campaign. The digital campaign was designed to oppose Gujarat government’s order to collect no fees from the parents till the schools open regularly.

Manan Choksi, Past President and Member of AOPS, said “We had received tremendous support from parents and other sections of the society backing the various initiatives taken by the self-financed schools for the betterment of students’ education during Covid-19 pandemic. A large number of parents had shown their disagreement towards the government’s GR on not to levy fees till normal classes resume.”

“In 2017, a Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) was set up by Gujarat government to regulate fee structure of schools in Gujarat. Despite submitting the genuine expenses approved by the auditors, the FRC drastically reduced the fees charged by private schools. Just like every other sector, the private schools also faced a big hit due to Covid-19 pandemic and it’s after effects. Last week the state government had restricted all the schools not to collect fees from the parents till the schools resume normally. In such a situation, how the schools will pay the salaries of teaching staff? Such a decision is completely hogwash and our digital campaign proved that by getting support from the education fraternity”, added Choksi.