Odisha Govt To Decide On Private School Fee Waiver: High Court

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has allowed the state government to issue a specific directive for the waiver of the private school fees in a graded manner.

Disposing of petitions on Sunday, a division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BR Sarangi said that given the limited scope of interference in matters of this nature, the court is not persuaded to further issue directions on the issue in light of the MoU between 14 educational institutions in Odisha on the question of fee waiver during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bench, however, made it clear that this will not preclude individual institutions or parties, who may be aggrieved or who may have a different point of view than that recorded in the MoU, or seek strict enforcement of the terms and conditions of recognition or grant of the no-objection certificate (NOC) as set out in the Resolution on September 23, 1996, from seeking appropriate reliefs in separate proceedings as permissible to them in accordance with the law.

In its petition, the Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangh had contended that the resolution issued by the School and Mass Education Department on September 23, 1996, gives the state government the power to regulate the fees being charged by private schools.

Asked about the ruling of the High Court, School and Mass Education minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Monday said he has come to know about the ruling from the media.

He said that the School and Mass Education Department will take a decision in accordance with the directive of the court once it receives the copy.

Also Read: Private School Fee Waiver: HC Asks Odisha Govt To Accept Panel Recommendation