THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the government order directing unaided schools to defer fee collection owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Council of CBSE Schools, Kerala, has urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to let parents pay the fees if they can afford it. This will ensure uninterrupted payment of salary to the staff.
According to the council, which represents over 1,350 CBSE-affiliated school managements, the schools depend solely on fees collected from students to pay monthly salaries of teachers, non-teaching staff besides meeting other expenses.
“Around 30 to 35 per cent of annual fees are collected towards March-end. Unfortunately, this academic year, the schools were closed down from March 11 as directed by the state government. This has caused a huge shortage of funds in schools,” said Indira Rajan, Chief Patron of the Council. In the memorandum, the council said the fees can be paid via electronic modes. “We are sure the CM’s clarification on the matter of fee collection will go a long way in mitigating the hardships of the managements to some extent besides helping the student and teacher fraternity,” the memo said.