FICCI Arise, a collegium of stakeholders aimed at promoting quality education, has welcomed the Supreme Court decision to not allow a college fee rebate during lockdown, saying non-payment of fee can land educational institutes in "critical care" and affect the livelihood of many.
The Supreme Court on Friday disposed of a petition of students from private colleges seeking a fee rebate in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown which has led to job losses and salary cuts of many parents.
The court asked the petitioners' advocate how the colleges will run if they failed to receive fees and from where will the colleges give salary to their employees.
"We welcome the logical decision by the apex court to ensure college fees to be paid for the lockdown period. We look forward to similar decisions for the aided and unaided schools of the country that are already in critical care during these Covid times. Educational institutions play a very important role in the society as they equip future generations with knowledge and wisdom," FICCI Arise Chairman Manit Jain said.
"It is extremely critical to keep their people base and infrastructure intact enabling them to serve students in the same way when they return to schools and colleges. There are over 3.03 lakh unaided private schools in the country. At a very basic estimate of the direct employment these schools offer employment to over 3 crore people comprising teaching, non-teaching and support staff. This translates into livelihood to 12-15 crore citizens of the country," Jain added.
Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the central government announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as one of the measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Later, a nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which has now been extended till May 17.
While schools and colleges, are conducting teaching activities online, there has been a constant demand from parents for a fee rebate.
"Education is one of the top 5 employment providers in the country. With the closure of schools on account of COVID-19, many institutions across the country have moved to online teaching using both synchronous and asynchronous modes of instruction.
"Faculty and teachers have had to spend much more time than usual to plan, learn, adapt and deliver online classes. They have risen to the call of their duty in these unprecedented times only to be faced with the uncertainty of salary payments and continued employability, Jain said.