The Maharashtra government has directed all schools in the State, across all boards, all mediums, and from pre-primary to Class XII, to not increase the fees for the academic year 2020-21.
According to a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the Education Department recently, all the schools have also been asked to provide an option to parents to pay any pending fees for 2019-2020 or for the upcoming year academic in monthly or tri-monthly instalments. It has directed the school managements to not seek fees in one instalment.
At the same time, the government has also asked schools to evaluate the infrastructure they will be using throughout the year and, “in case certain educational facilities are not going to be used, then the Executive Committee of Parent Teacher Association (EPTA) may pass a resolution seeking reduction in fees”.
All the schools will also have to give parents the option of paying fees online during the period of lockdown, the GR said.
The State government has already issued a notification directing schools to not force parents to pay fees of the previous or next year. The GR, dated March 30, directed schools to collect fees only after lockdown ends.
“The government is responding to the demands of the parents to ensure they don’t face any hardship in this time. The department had received complaints about schools demanding pending fees even in lockdown time and therefore we issued the notification on March 30,” said an official.
Parents, he added, are also worried about the post-corona scenario, both economically and socially. “At such a time, we decided to ensure that they are not burdened with extra expenditure in the form of increased school fees. Every school in the State, irrespective of its board or medium, has to follow the government direction on fees,” he said.
