Private schools in Gujarat suspends online classes as a protest against G.O of not to collect fee

Gujarat: Private schools in Gujarat suspended online classes for an indefinite period from Thursday after a state government order said they should not collect the fee from students until the schools reopen.

In a notification issued last week, the Gujarat government-directed self-financed schools in the state not to collect tuition fees from students as long as they remain at home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also asked these schools not to hike fees for the academic year 2020-21. Unhappy with the move, a union of representing nearly 15,000 self-financed schools in Gujarat decided to stop online classes.

Majority of these schools informed the parents through SMS on Wednesday night that there will not be any online classes for their wards from Thursday.

Speaking on this, Self-financed School Management Association's spokesperson Dipak Rajyaguru said, "Almost all the self-financed schools in the state refrained from imparting online education. If the government believes online education is not real education, then there is no meaning of imparting such unreal education to our students. Online education will remain suspended until the government withdraws that notification." He said the association will also approach the high court against state government's decision.

Speaking on this, a prominent educationist and member of the association Jatin Bharad said, "There is no alternative to online education in the present situation. Self-financed schools need to pay salaries to the teachers and other staff. No state in India has taken such decision that fees cannot be collected despite conducting online classes. If we adhere to the state notification, it will be impossible for us to pay salaries and run the school. Thus, we have decided to suspend the online classes."