Further financial distress means closure of thousands of schools in Maharashtra: Teachers Association

MESTA President Sanjayrao Tayade Patil interacts with school education minister Varsha Gaikwad on Thursday

The matter of school fees refuses to die down. Now, managements of private schools have threatened a protest march if the government fails to meet their demands in the next two months. The state has instructed institutions to not take action against students for non-payment of fees in view of the pandemic-induced crisis. However, the managements say they cannot survive for long without their primary income source - fees.

Sanjayrao Tayade Patil

Maharashtra English School Teachers Association (MESTA) and Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) on Thursday submitted a memorandum to state School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad. In the memorandum, they have listed out their demands, and also explained to Gaikwad the plight of over 6 lakh teachers and 1.5 lakh support staff.

MESTA stated that the financial condition of schools are abysmal and need immediate financial assistance to function. Any further financial distress will lead to downsizing and also temporary or permanent closure of thousands of schools in the state, it added.

MESTA President Sayajirao Tayade Patil said, "Considering the crisis due to the pandemic, we provided several relaxations to parents. But many parents, who are not facing a genuine financial crisis, are taking advantage of the government's instructions."

With classes now being held online, a completely new format adopted following the COVID-19 outbreak, teachers are making additional efforts, he said. "Schools still have to pay them. But if our most important income source - fees - is affected, it will become difficult for us to survive. We don't have any kind of government aid. In fact, the state government has not released the Right To Education Act reimbursement for the past four years."

They demand the RTR reimbursement, waiver of government taxes and electricity charges for the academic year 2020-21. "We plan to continue our protest periodically. If there is no resolution for two months, we would have to take out a protest march with lakhs of affected teaching and non-teaching staff," Patil said.

Minister Gaikwad was unavailable for comment.