The Rajasthan High Court on Monday announced a major decision regarding payment of fees in the private schools in Rajasthan. The court asked schools in the state to charge only 70% of the total fees during the time of COVID-19.
The state court directed that the parents can pay the school fees in three instalments till January 31, 2021. The three instalments can be fixed by depositing the first instalment on or before September 30, 2020, the second instalment can be paid by November 30, 2020, and the third instalment by January 31, 2021.
The court has been hearing petitions against a state government order barring schools from collecting the fee for three months. The court said that on non-payment of fees, students can be barred from joining online classes, but cannot be expelled from the school.
The petitioners argued that there has already been a deferment of fees for a long period of almost six months. They asserted that the schools also required to maintain the infrastructure and also pay salaries to its staff, including teaching and non-teaching staff.
As an interim measure, the high court directed that schools may collect 70% of the tuition fees from the total fees being charged for the year until the situation gets normalised.