The Gujarat High Court on Friday struck down a clause in a State government resolution which asked private and self financed schools to not charge any fees while they are shut due to the pandemic in the state.
The Court held that the directive of the state government to the private and self financed schools was not tenable and asked the state government to decide on the fees to be changed by the private schools in consultation with the representatives of the parents association and schools management.
The government resolution (GR) by the State education department was issued on July 16, and it was challenged in HC by Federation of Self Financed Schools, which claimed they were conducting online classes since June and staff and teachers’ salaries had to be paid.
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On Friday, the bench set aside that particular clause in the GR and directed the government and school federation to sit together and find an amicable solution on the fee issue.
While hearing the petition earlier on Thursday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala had questioned the state government’s logic behind such a directive to schools.
Since other PILs are also linked with this petition, it is expected that a detailed order will be issued soon by the division bench.
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Schools had stopped online classes for three days after the GR came out but then restarted from Monday saying they would abide by the HC order.
The issue of fees by the private and self financed schools has become a hot topic in the state with a section of parents association and the opposition party demanding that the private schools must be restrained from charging any fees till they are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Subsequently, the state education department came out with a directive in this regard which was challenged legally by the federation of private schools.
Moreover, teachers in the private schools also pleaded that no fees to private schools would lead to the situation where they would be deprived of their salaries. There are close to 1.5 million people working as teachers and administrative staff in private schools.