Madhya Pradesh HC directs private schools to only charge tuition fees during COVID-19 pandemic

Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed all private schools to not charge any fees other than tuition fees. 

Madhya Pradesh High Court has asked all the private schools in the state to not charge any arbitrary fees other than the tuition fees in the state. The orders has been announced considering the problems faced by the parents during the lockdown condition amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Court has also asked the private schools to collect any fee after the COVID-19 situation gets better in the state. Also, the private schools have been asked to take the tuition fees it used to collect before the pandemic hit the state.

The private schools had requested the High Court to allow the collection of fees other than the tuition fee once the COVID-19 situation gets better. The parents who had filed a plea against the private schools demanding an arbitrary amount of fee objected to this request of the schools. The court will hear the issue on September 10, 2020, now.

The schools of the state had stated in the court that since they had continued with online classes during the pandemic too, they should be allowed to collect all the parts of the fee they levy on the parents. The court has in its interim decision denied any fee to be charged other than tuition fees.

The schools across the country have been kept closed since mid-March due to a coronavirus outbreak in the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has released an Unlock 4.0 guidelines, as per which the schools will reopen for teachers and other staff members after September 27, 2020. The schools will remain closed for students until September 30 however.

The Delhi government has also warned private schools on September 1 to not collect additional charges other than the tuition fee and also not to raise the fees until schools reopen. In a letter to school principals, Education Department Director Udit Prakash Raj said such act of schools is not only in a clear violation of directions issued earlier but also an inhumane act on their part keeping in view the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic conditions and long closure of schools.

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