BENGALURU: Associations of parents and schools will be involved in discussions on the tuition fee cut, and a “middle path” will be arrived at, Education Minister Suresh Kumar said on Tuesday.The minister visited the protesters at Freedom Park and accepted their memorandum. He assured them that their demands - which include a Rs 1,000 crore allocation for interest-free loans for schools - would be looked into.
He said that several attempts were made to provide a financial package for teaching and non-teaching staff, and that he had spoken to the finance department and appealed to the government workers’ association, requesting them to donate two days’ salary, but in vain. He had even approached the labour minister for food kits, but that too did not work out.
“However, we will try to find a way to help staff of private schools,” he said.He said safety norms in private schools were introduced based on Supreme Court orders in the wake of the Kumbakonam school tragedy where 92 children burnt to death. The compliance process will be online to make it transparent and corruption-free, and a meeting with the fire and public works departments will be held in two days to simplify the process, he said.
The government is putting in effort to resume classes 1-5 and is in talks with the health department he added. A ‘File Disposal Movement’ will be initiated on March 1 to ensure that files are not pending for more than a day without legitimate reason.