Gujarat HC nixes ban on private schools collecting fees

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Friday said it will set aside the clause in the government resolution prohibiting private schools from collecting tuition fees till they remain closed due to Covid. The bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J B Pardiwala also asked the state government and the schools to negotiate the matter of fees again with an “open mind”.

The judges said that the government should try to balance the interests of the schools with those of the parents. The HC also asked the schools to continue online classes, which had been stopped for a couple of days as a mark of protest against the government diktat. Mitul Shelat, the advocate representing the Federation of Self-Financed Schools, said the government’s ban on the collection of fees was unreasonable and questioned its power to issue such an order. The state government had on July 16 invoked the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act to impose restrictions on the collection of fees.

The advocate for a group of parents, Vishal Dave, requested the HC to direct the government to ensure that the interests of parents are protected. Dave also wanted to have the schools restrained from charging for activities that are not taking place at present. The HC said it will pass an order and make observations to ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are protected. To the HC’s queries about negotiations, the state government submitted that the schools were not ready to give any concession in their charges. The court reiterated that the negotiations should be reasonable. The federation then said that it was open to negotiations. The government insisted that the federation’s statement should be recorded considering its past actions.

The HC insisted on negotiations because the government resolution had specifically mentioned that the harsh decision was necessitated by the federation’s July 16 letter curtly refusing to reduce fees.

“Parents were unhappy when there was no fee committee,” said Manan Choksi, a trustee at Udgam School. “Now, when there is a fee committee, they have a problem. If parents don’t pay fees, how will schools run and how will we pay salaries to teachers and other staff members?” He went on to say: “As many as 80% of parents have paid fees. We are ready to extend support to the remaining who are not in a position to pay.”

Deepak Rajyaguru, the spokesperson of the Federation of Self-Financed Schools, said: “Online education was not considered a part of the regular academic session. Then why is the government paying salaries to teachers for online studies?” Rajyaguru went on to say: “The court has said that it is a part of regular studies. This is not a question of win or loss but a question of survival of lakhs of teachers and other staffers.” The court’s decision has instilled hope in teachers and schools, Rajyaguru said.

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