Not allowed to collect fees, some schools mull salary cuts

Budget schools facing a tough time in making ends meet

01/04/2020, STAFF REPORTER,BENGALURU

As big corporations are announcing salary cuts, people employed by private schools are worried about job security, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. What’s cause for concern is that school managements have been told not to collect fee for the next academic year, a fact they cite as reason for not having enough money to meet their recurring expenditure. Some school managements are contemplating paying only half of the next month’s salary to their staff.

D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said the government is yet to pay the RTE reimbursement to schools amounting to lakhs of rupees.

“On the other hand, they’re empowering parents not to pay fee. All we are saying is let parents at least pay last year’s fee. Many had requested for time, which was granted. They would usually pay up the remaining amount before the exams. But now that the academic calendar has been thrown out of gear, we haven’t even got the pending amount. How are we supposed to pay staff?”

He also said budget schools, which make up the majority in the private school sector, are suffering. “We will not be able to maintain this in the long run. Of 1,700 students in our school, for example, 400 are yet to pay. We may have to pay only half the salaries for staff next month. And we may also have to see more staff being let go,” he said.

Managements of a few schools in the city are being criticised for terminating the contracts of some of staff like bus drivers.

One of them spoke to The Hindu on condition of anonymity.

“I have been working here as a bus driver for three years. After completing two years, they said they’ll make my service permanent. Now all of a sudden, the principal has called me and said they no longer require my services,” he said, visibly distressed.