Chandigarh: Private school associations in Punjab on Tuesday opposed the state government's ordinance capping annual fee hikes at five per cent and directing schools to refund fees collected beyond the prescribed limit over the past three years, saying the move could adversely affect the financial viability of schools and the education sector.
Addressing a press conference, National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) president Kulbhushan Sharma and Recognised Affiliated Schools Association (RASA) Punjab chairman Harpal Singh (UK) urged the government to hold consultations with private school associations, parents, educationists and financial experts before implementing the policy.
They said private schools would approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court for legal relief if the issue remained unresolved.
Sharma said while protecting the interests of parents was important, the government must also ensure the financial sustainability of schools, fair salaries for teachers and quality education for students.
He called for a balanced and transparent fee regulation policy.
Harpal Singh said private schools had made financial commitments based on the earlier policy, which permitted annual fee revisions of up to eight per cent.
He said schools had invested heavily in teachers' salaries, infrastructure, laboratories, smart classrooms, digital learning, safety measures and sports facilities, and retrospective fee refunds would place a heavy financial burden on them.
The associations said many private schools were still recovering from losses suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to repay loans taken to sustain operations.
They warned that retrospective refunds could particularly affect low-fee private schools and even force some institutions to shut down.
Citing available data, the associations said around 3.06 million students study in private schools in Punjab compared with about 2.67 million in government schools, while the private sector employs nearly 1.46 lakh teachers.
They questioned whether the government had the capacity to accommodate over three million additional students and recruit nearly 1.5 lakh teachers if private schools were weakened.
The speakers also referred to challenges in the government school system, including single-teacher schools, lack of internet connectivity in thousands of schools and vacant teaching posts, saying additional pressure on the public education system would not be desirable.
The associations further said rising inflation and increasing operational expenses, including electricity, employee benefits, transport, maintenance and technology costs, had significantly raised expenditure over the past three years.
Since teacher and staff salaries account for a major share of school expenditure, limiting annual fee hikes to five per cent would affect salary revisions and the quality of education, they added.
They urged the Punjab government to resolve the issue through dialogue rather than confrontation.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.