Karnataka: Foolish populism

Widespread protests by school managements and an online petition demanding public support for private school teachers which attracted over 26,700 signatures, has compelled the state government to amend a March 30 circular of the department of public instruction (DPI) to private schools to desist from collecting pupils’ tuition fees “until further orders”. Under a second DPI circular dated April 23, private school managements are advised that they may collect fees for the quarter April-June from “parents who can afford”, through the online mode. Although the modified April 23 circular has assuaged some indignation of managements of Karnataka’s 20,000 recognised private primary-secondary schools which host 46 percent of the state’s 10 million school-going children, there is still considerable dissatisfaction with the second circular. For one, it directs schools to collect tuition fees from parents who can afford to pay leaving it to the discretion of parents. “Parents who are economically sound and can pay the fees shall come forward to remit the fees in installments, according to their capacity,” states a government order signed by S. Suresh Kumar, primary-secondary education minster of the state’s BJP government which was sworn into office in controversial circumstances last August. Moreover, the order further states that fees remitted by parents should be utilised on a priority basis to disburse salaries to teachers and support staff. Secondly, to maintain clustering and social distancing norms mandated by the national lockdown following outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has ordered online payment of tuition fees. These hasty new directives have created a new set of problems for beleaguered private schools. According to D. Shashi Kumar, the energetic president of the Associated Managements of Primary & Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS, estb.1988) which has a membership of 2,000, mainly affordable budget private schools statewide, barely 2-3 percent of parents of KAMS member schools have voluntarily “come forward” to pay their contracted school fees. Even within this minority, a substantial  number complain that they don’t have the infrastructure and/or capability to make online payments of tuition fees. “All schools know the socio-economic profile of their parents quite well. Therefore, the question of affordability should be a bilateral matter between school managements and parents. As it is, most of our member schools collect school fees monthly. I’m sure school managements can give parents who have been genuinely hit by the national lockdown deferred payment plans or waive the fee altogether in some cases,” says Shashi Kumar. Shashi Kumar is especially outraged by the magnanimity of the state government circular which gives parents the option to pay contracted school fees at their discretion while maintaining a conspicuous silence on the matter of reimbursing the sum of Rs.1,200 crore owing to private schools which has been pending for three years. Under s.12 (1) (c) of the landmark Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education (aka RTE) Act, 2009, all except minority primary schools are obliged to reserve 25 percent of capacity in class I for children from poor households in their neighbourhood and retain them until class VIII. The…