School Fee Waiver Amid Lockdown : How Various High Courts Dealt With The Issue?

The Supreme Court is considering a Writ Petition filed by Parents Association seeking waiver of private school fees for a period of three months starting April 1 till July 1 2020 during lockdown. The PIL filed by Parents Associations in 9 states, namely Rajasthan, Odisha, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, contends that that it is the duty of the Government to protect the fundamental right of Right to Education in "event of inability in payment of fees due to financial hardships of a parent, the protection which is provided for ... in the Constitution". The Supreme Court is expected to consider the matter soon.This piece intends to survey how various High Courts have dealt with similar petitions. Uttarakhand High Court Restrained Schools From Demanding FeeThe earliest order in this regard was passed by Uttarakhand High Court which restrained all private unaided schools in the state from demanding tution fee from parents of students who are unable to access online classes, in view of the lockdown situation. The Order was passed in May 2020. The court directed that "it is only those students, who are able to access the online course being offered by the private educational institutions, who would be required to pay the tuition fee, if they choose to do so." The order was passed by a bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice RC Khulbe in conformity with the state Government's order dated May 2, 2020, whereby private schools were prohibited from collecting any fees other than tuition fees and payment of tuition fees was made voluntary."While the difficulties of these institutions, in having to incur expenditure without collecting fees from its students, is understandable, times of crisis like these would require the haves to extend a helping hand to the have-nots. The Government Order dated 02.05.2020 binds these private schools and, as long as it continues to remain in force, they are bound to adhere to the conditions stipulated therein.", it said in the order.A batch of appeals against this order had come up before the Supreme Court last month in which it has issued notices to the parties.Gujarat HC: See To It That Schools Don't Proceed To Cancel Admission On Failure To Deposit FeeWhile considering certain writ petitions which raised the issue of school fees, the Gujarat High Court, in an order passed on 19th June, directed the Advocate General to take up these issues with the State Government and see to it that the private schools across the State of Gujarat do not proceed to cancel the admission on failure of the parents to deposit the fees by 30.06.2020. The Court has posted these matters on 17th July 2020.Punjab and Haryana HC: Schools Entitled To Collect Tuition FeeThe High Court of Punjab and Haryana recently held that all schools, irrespective of whether they offered online classes during the lock-down period or not, are entitled to collect the tuition fee. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur issued various directions in the matter, while considering a bunch of petitions filed by associations of unaided private schools and parents of school students, challenging the May 14 notification issued by the Director, School Education, imposing curbs on the charging of fees."The grievance of the parents that they should not be made to pay for the services which have not been rendered, especially when either some schools did not offer online services or because they reside in remote areas, where the online facility is not available, may be a reasonable complaint but while making the said complaint, the parents have forgotten the fact, as already noted above, that the staff and teachers have to be continuously paid the salary during this lockdown period", held the bench while dismissing the PIL.Delhi HC: Charging of Tuition Fee JustifiedDelhi High Court rejected the plea seeking a direction to the Directorate of Education asking it to prohibit schools from charging even the tuition fee during lockdown period. The Court said that the charging of tuition fee is justified as schools are organising online classes, providing study materials, and paying staff salaries. The Court passed this order while dismissing a writ petition filed by one Naresh Kumar seeking a direction stating that private unaided schools should be prohibited from collecting even the tuition fee in light of the nationwide lockdown.'While there can be no cavil, to the proposition that the requirement of payment of school fees would, necessarily, become enforceable only where the fees are payable, i.e., where the parents are physically in a position to pay the school fees, we cannot agree that, during the period of lockdown, or during the period when online education is being provided by the schools, and availed of, by students, tuition fees should be exempted. So long as schools are disseminating education online, they are certainly entitled to charge tuition fees.', the Court said.Kerala HC:...

School Fee Waiver Amid Lockdown : How Various High Courts Dealt With The Issue?

Ashok Kini

Tags