January 21, 2021
TED NewsDesk, Odisha: The government of Odisha has informed about its decision to reduce the tuition fees of every aided and unaided private schools keeping in view the COVID-19 pandemic. The department of School and Mass Education issued a notification on Tuesday, disclosing that the government will reduce the tuition fees in seven layers, for the academic year 2020-2021.
In schools where fees are less than or equal to Rs. 6000 per annum, will not provide any relaxation. The waiver for the rest of the categories are:
| Amount to be Waived (in %) | Annual Fees (₹ per annum) |
| 26 | 1 lakh |
| 25 | 72,001 – 1 lakh |
| 20 | 48,001 – 72,000 |
| 15 | 24,001 – 48,000 |
| 12 | 12,001 – 24,000 |
| 7.5 | 6,001 – 12,000 |
| 0 | Up to 6000 |
Additionally, the schools will facilitate free food and transport facility, and provide 30% waiver on hostel fees.
In the wake of Coronavirus outbreak, the High Court directed the state government to provide fee relaxation in all aided and unaided private schools for the 2020-21 academic session.
“We hope that the aided and unaided private schools will abide by the court order,” said SR Dash, School and Mass Education Minister.
The issue surfaced when the state government and schools disagreed to cut down the tuition fees despite the COVID-19 lockdown. The parents’ associations, as a result, approached the state High Court filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Odisha government, in response, said it has no right to decide the benchmark for fees for private schools.
Previously, the Chief Minister Mr Naveen Patnaik informed about the state’s decision to decrease examination fees of the current batch of class X. According to Patnaik, almost six lakh students would benefit from the decision while the government would bear Rs 27 crore towards the exemption.
Source: Times of India
