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Private school staff protest against fee reduction
Thousands of teachers and non-teaching staff of private schools under the aegis of Karnataka Private Unaided School Managements, Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff Coordination Committee (KPMTCC) held a massive protest here on Tuesday demanding withdrawal of the order issued by the State Primary and Secondary Education Department reducing fee by 30 per cent.
Bengaluru: Thousands of teachers and non-teaching staff of private schools under the aegis of Karnataka Private Unaided School Managements, Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff Coordination Committee (KPMTCC) held a massive protest here on Tuesday demanding withdrawal of the order issued by the State Primary and Secondary Education Department reducing fee by 30 per cent.
While the State government order was issued keeping in mind the financial hardship being faced by parents in the wake of economic slump triggered by Covid-induced lockdown, school managements say that with the steep fee cut, they won't be able to pay salaries to their staff. The protesters took out a rally from City Railway State in Majestic circle to Freedom Park. As a result, there was a huge traffic jam at Anand Rao circle, Freedom Park and KR Circle area in Bengaluru CBD (Central Business district). Primary & Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar was forced to visit the spot where the protesters gathered.
"Reduction of school fee by 30 percent is a gross injustice to teachers who are risking their lives to ensure good education to students. We are teaching through videos online and helping students who are staying home. Yet we are getting less than half the salary," lamented Apoorva, a private school teacher.
Many private school managements in the city have approached the Karnataka High Court over the matter. A delegation of school managements has also met Medical Education and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar earlier this month seeking that the fee cut be restricted to 15 per cent. They also sought grants from the government to help schools stay afloat.
The government order issued on January 30 barred schools from collecting not more than 70 percent of tuition fee. The order also banned schools from collecting any other fee such as development fee, library fee etc.
Speaking to The Hans India, D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Managements of English Medium Schools in Karnataka (KAMS), said, "We have demanded that government take into consideration the drop in income of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. We also requested the Education Minister to allow reopening of primary classes, fresh admissions and make minimum attendance compulsory. We called off our protest after the minister promised to look into our grievances.
