Synopsis: A division bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjay Yadav and Justice R K Dubey noted that the schools still have to pay salaries while they are currently closed.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court said on Thursday that students can only pay school tuition fees until the government declares that the coronavirus pandemic is over. It has also ordered that fees for the 2020-21 academic year should not be raised.
Hearing many Public Interest Litigations (PIL), the Jabalpur bench of the High Court also ordered that the salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff should be paid on a regular basis, and that a cut, if any, should not exceed 20%.
In view of the economic hardship caused by the pandemic, the PILs sought the waiver of school fees, plead Advocate Dinesh Upadhyay, representing the petitioners.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjay Yadav and Justice R K Dubey noted that the schools still have to pay salaries while they are currently closed.
Since private, unaided educational institutions do not receive government funding, the judges acknowledged that they are solely dependent on fees.
Moreover, the States/UTs were asked to issue appropriate instructions of the payment of school fees and payment of salaries to teaching and non-teaching staff that is to be applicable during the pandemic period.
As a consequence of this, various instructions were issued by the State of Madhya Pradesh through its Education Department. The District Magistrates began issuing orders to the institutions on the basis of the instructions given by the State of Madhya Pradesh through its School Education Department that if the full compensation for the teaching and non-teaching staff is not paid on a regular basis, the action should be taken against the school authorities and their affiliation will be cancelled.
It was also reported that since the institutions (through its School Education Department) were ordered (by the State of Madhya Pradesh) not to cut off the names of the students in the event of non-deposit of amount, hence, the fees are not deposited by the parents. It was also reported that since the administration had to bear the institution expenses such as teaching and non-teaching staff charged from the fees adjusted under the heads of tuition fee, transport fee, mess fee, sports fee, and annual fees, etc.