No Fee Except Tuition Fee to be Charged

Port Blair, May 10: Due to closure of businesses, many parents are unable to pay quarterly fees to the private unaided schools in the islands. Complaints have also been received that some private schools are not supporting the students to maintain their continuity in educational activities during the lockdown. There are also grievances of the teaching and non-teaching staffs about financial crisis due to non-payment of salaries by the school management.

Taking into consideration, all the grievances being faced by students, parents and staff of private unaided schools during the lockdown period, the Department of Education has issued an order under all relevant rule provisions, to all private unaided schools functioning in the islands to protect the interest of students, parents and staff.

All such schools have been instructed to adhere to the instructions of the Directorate of Education. Failure to adherence to the instructions of the order can invite action against them under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 51(b) of Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The order specifies the following:

Private unaided schools shall charge no fee, except tuition fee from the parents/ students till further order.

Heads of schools/ managers shall not demand and collect the tuition fee from the parents/ students on quarterly basis. The fee shall be collected on monthly basis.

The schools have been asked not to increase any fee in the academic session 2020-21 till further directions.

Private unaided schools have been asked to ensure providing of digital education/ facilities/ materials / classes to all the students, without any discrimination.

Heads of the schools shall, in no case, deny digital education facilities / materials/ classes to those students who are unable to pay the school fee due to financial crisis arising out of closure of business activities in the ongoing lockdown condition.

The Management Committee of the school/ heads of schools shall not put extra financial burden by creating any new head of fee.

They shall neither stop payment of monthly salary nor reduce the existing total emoluments to teaching and non-teaching staff of their schools in the name of non-availability of funds and arrange the funds in case of any shortfalls from the Society/ Trust running the school.