Justice R. Mahadevan directed the State government to explain by next Tuesday as to how private schools in the State would be able to pay salaries to teachers when the government banned forcible collection of fees during the lockdown.
[6/24, 08:12] Sekarreporter 1: Collection of school fee during lockdown
In the meantime, Justice R. Mahadevan directed the State government to explain by next Tuesday as to how private schools in the State would be able to pay salaries to teachers when the government banned forcible collection of fees during the lockdown.
He was of the view that teachers must be paid since online classes were under way. The judge directed Additional Government Pleader R. Vijayakumar to obtain instructions as to how the government on one hand expected all private establishments to pay salaries during this period and on the other, banned private schools from collecting fees. The question was posed during the hearing of a writ petition filed by Palaniappan All India Private Educational Institutions’ Association.
Appearing for the association, senior counsel K.M. Vijayan said, it was not the School Education Department but the Chief Secretary who issued a government order on April 24 preventing educational institutions from demanding fees. He said, schools and colleges had several expenses to meet towards maintenance of the institutions and paying taxes.
In an affidavit, filed through its counsel on record R. Vijay Anand, the association said educational institutions were being forced to conduct online classes upon the insistence of parents who do not want their children to waste time at home during the lockdown. The association claimed that there was no end in sight for the lockdown and so online classes had become the norm of the day.
