Can’t put blanket ban on school fees: Gujarat HC

AHMEDABAD: On the state government’s decision prohibiting private schools from charging tuition fees as long as their premises remain shut to regular classes, the Gujarat high court on Thursday remarked that the government cannot place such a blanket ban and the court may interfere in this issue.
The bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J B Pardiwala heard three PILs on the issue of fees by private schools and online education for kids in pre-primary section. The court decided to hear the issue further on Friday by tagging another petition with these PILs. The petition was filed by the Association of Private Institutions challenging the government resolution passed on July 16, in which the State has adopted the Centre’s guidelines about online education and restrained private schools form charging any fee from parents until schools start physically.
The issue has arisen as schools are closed on account of Covid-19 pandemic, and the government took the extreme step of restraining schools from charging fees, after the HC asked the government to resolve the issue.
Sources said that during the hearing, the judges made it clear to the state government that the court might interfere with the decision so far as fee waiver is concerned. The judges questioned the state government what prompted it to ban schools from collecting fees and whether parents had complained that the schools were not working or whether parents were unable to pay fees. To this, the advocate general replied that the grievances of parents were due to monetary constraints caused by the Covid-19 situation.
The judges commented that there may be genuine difficulties in some cases, but the government cannot place a blanket ban on fee collection. The judges also said that after the process of Unlock, many activities have resumed and people may be able to pay fees. The government should consider this aspect also, sources said.
The state government submitted that there is a proposal to carry forward a part of fees to next academic year, as people are unable to pay. But the court said that this did not appear feasible because it would shift the burden to next year.
The issue started after the HC insisted that the government must resolve the fee impasse when Gujarat Parents’ Association filed a PIL through advocate Vishal Dave seeking rationalization of fee structure. The PIL had asked that the schools be stopped from demanding fees for those activities that are not taking place at present. The association also objected to certain private schools threatening students to discontinue their admission upon failure to pay fees before June 30. The HC ordered the government to ensure that no admission in private schools be cancelled over non-payment of fees by the deadline.