COVID-19 Lockdown: Private Schools In Odisha Not To Waive School Fees

Bhubaneswar: In response to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s appeal to reduce/defer school fees from April to June due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Odisha Private School Teacher Association (OPSTA) has expressed its inability to waive it off completely.

In a letter to the parents and guardians, chairman of the Association Badri Narayan Patnaik on Saturday said that it would not be possible for them to waive off the school fees. It has, however, decided to collect the late fees without any fine.

“We have to pay salaries to schoolteachers as they are providing online education to about 80 per cent students during the lockdown. Taking this into consideration, the Association has asked all private schools to defer collection of school fees by three months till June,” Patnaik said.

Reacting to the decision of the OPSTA, the Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha have alleged that owners of some private schools are collecting hefty school fees from the students and creating confusion among the parents and guardians with false information.

“As per rules, the private schools have to create a contingency fund to provide salary to the teachers and meet their ancillary expenditure. We want the owners of the private schools to reveal their personal movable and immovable properties before and after the setting up of the school,” the Mahasangha demanded.

“The private school owners, who have commercialised the education in the state, always have a plea that they are incurring a loss in running their institution. If their version is true, how come they are able to open more branches in the state?” the Mahasangha asked.

On April 10, the Chief Minister had advised all private educational institutions in the state to consider reducing and deferring school fees from April to June to help parents whose income has been adversely hit, owing to the lockdown and associated economic stress arising from the novel coronavirus outbreak.