How Will Pvt Schools Pay Salaries When Asked To Not Collect Minimum Fees: Madras HC Asks TN Govt

The Madras High Court has questioned the Tamil Nadu government's order and asked for a response by June 30.

(File Image: AFP)

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday raised a question as to how will school and colleges pay teachers and other staff members if they are prevented from collecting a minimum fee from students.  Justice R Mahadevan was observing the issue while responding to a batch of petitions by associations of schools and colleges that challenged the Tamil Nadu government's order prohibiting these educational institutions from collecting fees from students amid Covid-19 lockdown situation. This becomes a concern especially when the state government has also directed all private institutions to mandatorily pay all their teaching and non-teaching staff members. "But if unaided institutions are prohibited from collecting even minimum fees, how will they pay salary, that too when almost all such institutions are conducting online classes," the Judge said in his oral observations while hearing the petition. Justice R Mahadevan has also issued a notice seeking a response from the state government by June 30 to the pleas by Federation of Association of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, All India Private Educational Institutions Association and Consortium of Self Financing Professional, Arts and Science Colleges in Tamil Nadu. Senior counsel KM Vijayan represented the petitioners and said that the TN government had issued a Government Order (G.O) on April 20 directing all private schools and colleges in the state to not demand the fee which had been fixed by the fee fixation committee, citing the Coronavirus situation. "However, at the same time, it had also instructed all such institutions to pay salaries to all their staff without any default," he said. Mr. Vijayan pointed out that the G.O was issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. However, the act focuses on managing disaster and it has no role in deciding financial management of individuals or management of schools or colleges. Only in Tamil Nadu, such a prohibition had been imposed, he submitted. (With Agency Inputs) WATCH | CGBSE Result 2020: Girls ahead in race, know toppers' & percentage details