Karnataka pvt schools’ association suggests steps to reduce fees

Education

The decision comes after a state minister appealed to parents and school managements to find a middle ground during the current crisis.

TNM Staff

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A major association of private school managements in Karnataka recently called for a reduction in fees in its member schools in light of the COVID-19-induced economic slowdown. Among other things, the detailed ‘Fee Advisory’ issued by the Associated Management of Primary and Secondary School (KAMS), which has close to 4,000 members, requested the schools not to pay the full year’s fees at one time. It also asked school managements to provide more time to parents to pay their ward’s fees based on a written declaration.  This decision by KAMS comes just days after Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar appealed both to parents and private school managements to reach a middle ground regarding the current crisis. The economic slowdown has resulted in many parents struggling financially and failing to pay fees for their children. Similarly, some school managements have said that they are struggling to maintain their running costs without the fees. Incidents were reported of schools threatening to stop online classes for students who failed to pay their tuition fees, and urged the government to fix a minimum fee structure for the private schools. Some parents had also resorted to protests alleging government inaction in regulating schools demanding steep fees. The advisory issued by KAMS suggested that schools whose fee structure is more than Rs 25,000 per annum can reduce 20% to 25% or more of their fees in the “best interest of students continued learning and support the parents” during the present circumstances. For schools which have fees less than Rs 25,000 but more than Rs 15,000 a year, KAMS suggested that special development fees be relaxed for the current school year. Further, for schools whose annual fee is less than Rs 15,000, they can reduce their term fee to a maximum of 10% of their whole tuition fee.  KAMS also urged schools to determine if fees of extracurricular activities like sports/ cultural activities can be waived off too. The note added, “Minimum charges for computer usage considering 30% depreciation and transportation maintenance apart from running cost can be considered yearly overall expenditure and be divided among students.”

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