BENGALURU: Private schools in the state which levy fines on parents for delay in payment of fees will be sternly dealt with. The state government is already preparing a draft Bill which will allow it to penalise such schools and a final notification of the rules will be issued soon, said Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait here on Friday.
Legislative Council member P R Ramesh, who raised the issue, said some schools were imposing fines for delay in payment of all kinds of school fees, which affects parents. “The state should emulate Delhi, where the High Court had ruled that only 0.50 paise can be imposed as fine per day if parents pay fees later than the stipulated date,” Ramesh said.
Sait said a draft of the Bill is being prepared though the state is facing a dispute in court over the issue. “West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat had brought out separate Bills to address this issue, which was struck down by the courts,” he said. The state government will have to make necessary amendments to the Karnataka Educational Institutions Rules to impose penalties on such schools, he said.