BHUBANESWAR: After dilly-dallying for several months, the Odisha government may soon notify the revised fee structure for private schools as per the MoU signed with 14 educational institutions in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic last year.
A decision to this effect has been taken by the School and Mass Education (SME) department after the Orissa High Court directed it to finalise the fee structure earlier this month. Sources in the department said the order in this regard has already been passed by Minister Samir Ranjan Dash and the notification will be out soon.
The State government had earlier filed an affidavit in the Orissa High Court urging it to endorse the MoU signed by all stakeholders following a mediation conducted by the Principal Secretary of the SME department. The Orissa High Court on January 10 had accepted the fee waiver slabs for private schools and declined to adjudicate beyond the MoU arrived between private institutions agreeing to waive of fees in a graded manner.
Last year, PILs were filed in the High Court by Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha, Md Mustaq and Prahallad Rout seeking waiver of fees of private schools due to the pandemic. While the State government had claimed that it had no power to regulate fees fixed by private schools, the Mahasangha, had argued that the resolution issued by the department on September 23, 1996, which is still in vogue, gives the State the power to regulate the fees being charged by private schools.