With the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown forcing the mass closure of education institutions, several state governments have issued circulars directing private school managements not to collect tuition fees during the lockdown period. These circulars have jeopardized the financial stability of the country’s 375,000 private independent (unaided) K-12 schools, especially the estimated 400,000 budget private schools (BPS) countrywide, and endangered the employment of 7 million teachers. With parents withholding March-April tuition fees, a multiplying number of private schools are experiencing a severe cash flow problem and are unable to pay teachers’
salaries.
Several private school associations (NISA, FICCI Arise, Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan etc) have
made representations to state governments and the Union HRD ministry protesting these fee circulars on grounds
that they are ill-considered and violative of the fundamental right of private school managements to engage in the
vocation of education.
Given below an infographic depicting the severity of the fee collection directives in 22 states countrywide:
