BENGALURU : Private schools, especially in rural Karnataka, will suspend online classes from Monday, with the State government failing to meet their demands. The schools, under the aegis of Recognised Unaided Private Schools Association (RUPSA) had sought a Rs 1,000-crore relief package from the government, to pay salaries of five lakh teachers.
School managements say they are under loss due to the government's decision on fee payment, and have demanded that a minimum fee structure be fixed. RUPSA state president Lokesh Talikatte told The New Indian Express that the government was only catering to one section of schools.
He said the ministerial level delegation that met to decide on reopening of schools, had in their midst administrators of corporate schools, CBSE and ICSE schools, whereas a meeting with budget school administrators from RUPSA only got an audience with the commissioner of public instruction. RUPSA represents more than 12,000 schools, predominantly from rural areas, he said.
There was no response to their demands, such as a moratorium on loans, postponement of EMI payment, and relief package from the government, Talikatte said. Schools have invested in vehicles and new buildings, he said. Another major hindrance was the mandatory No Objection Certificate by the PWD and fire department, he added.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka Associated Managements of English Medium Schools (KAMS), an association of more than 3,800 private schools, has decided against the boycott. KAMS general secretary D Shashi Kumar said that online classes will continue. “We had earlier said that those who haven’t paid fees would be kept out, however, the education department assured us that it would resolve the issue,” he said.
Sathyamurthy, vice-president of Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association also denied being party to the boycott of online classes, and said that members are ready for online and offline classes. The Management of Independent CBSE Schools’ Association -Karnataka (MICSA-K) made it clear that online classes would continue and any other reports are misleading, secretary Mansoor Ali Khan said.
Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar, sympathising with parents who have faced attrition and pay cuts, said seeking a discounted fee amount isn’t wrong. However, he also voiced the concerns of private school managements, especially budget schools, whose teachers are in dire straits.
With non-payment of fees, schools are finding it difficult to pay salaries to teachers. Although the government planned various measures to remedy this crisis, it never came to fruition, considering the financial situation of the government. He requested the two factions to reach a consensus among themselves.