Uttarakhand HC orders government to take action on schools forcing for fees
A public interest litigation was filed in Uttarakhand in the case of non-payment of tuition fees from students in private and government schools. The court has ordered the state government to take action against the schools that are forcibly charging fees.
The court has also instructed private school operators to follow the state government’s order of 2 May 2020 asking them not to charge any fee other than tuition fees. In this order, the government said that tuition fees can also be taken by the same schools which are providing online teaching.
The court has also instructed private schools not to issue any notice to parents regarding depositing fees. The case was heard through video conferencing before the bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice RC Khulbe. The court has set a date of two weeks for the next hearing of the case.
Make education officer nodal officer
The High Court has ordered the state government to make the education officer the nodal officer so that the parents can file their complaints with the nodal officer against the schools demanding forcible fees. The court has directed the government to publicize the order.
How UKG and LKG are giving online education to children
During the hearing, the High Court asked the government how online education was being imparted to the children studying in LKG and UKG classes. The court also asked how many percent of children are studying online and how many schools are providing this facility. The court has instructed the education secretary to file a detailed reply, saying that how many students across the state are not able to take online education. The court asked what schools have online facilities for students and parents in Uttarakhand.
The petitioners said – no fees should be taken from children up to fifth
According to the case, the residents of Dehradun, Japinder Singh and Akash Yadav had filed a PIL in the High Court asking that tuition fees should be taken only after the situation is normal in private and government schools and no other fees should be charged in the name of tuition fees. The petition also said that there should be no increase in fees in the next session. The petitioner also said that no fee should be charged from children up to class 5.
