General

Cannot Attend Classes Due To COVID-19 But Still Paying Tuition Fee

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This Blog is written by Shelal Lodhi Rajput from Symbiosis Law School, Pune. Edited by Ravikiran Shukre.

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INTRODUCTION

The whole world is trying to fight with the pandemic of COVID-19 none of the sector is unhindered by this pandemic. Everyone is trying to adopt the new innovative way to cope up with the challenges possessed by the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic is evident on all the sectors, government-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, since then we get to see that all industries, factories were temporarily closed down, there is not a single sector from manufacturing to service on which this pandemic has not impacted and it is still continuing. The sector that is most badly and hardly hit is the education sector, in particular, it had completely shifted the modus operandi or the way of its operating before the pandemic.

According to the UNESCO Institute for statistics, it led to the closure of schools in 188 countries affecting more than 1.5 billion students[1]. The closure of educational institutions possessed a new challenge before the concerned authorities that how to continue with the process of learning for students, as a positivist approach we can say that pandemic set the ball rolling for a revolution in the process of education. Changes are not so easy, when we are talking about the Indian scenario it is not easy to advocate reforms in the education sector in a sudden way. With a vision that pandemic can’t stop us from the process of teaching & learning education institutes adopted a new pedagogy of online teaching. We can say that in the field of education, the present development must count for a miracle, as from the time of raise in technology education institution always insisted that the online learning was not for them, but due to this virus, they received a hard push back as it is noq need of the hour.

Each coin has two faces, the issue that arises here in the Indian context especially, it is about the demands of college and arguments of students. The fundamental question here is that as we are not attending classes, why need to pay the fees to the college. The pandemic has hit all the sectors of the economy and in the present situation, educational institutes are still demanding their fees even though they are closed but they contended that we are providing online teaching so we need fees, how far this is justifiable that we have to see?

THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT: LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

The custodian of constitution, our court has once again taken cognizance on the PIL filed before it, the recent development on the context of waiver of tuition fees from private schools come from Uttarakhand High court as there is a violation of government order by private schools as regarding the demand of tuition fees. Private schools sent emails and WhatsApp to parents to pay tuition fees. In the case at hand, the High court issued a series of direction that needs to be adhered by the government and respective authorities regarding this issue. This major judgment comes in the case of Japinder Singh v. Union of India (Writ Petition no. 59 of 2020) [2]. The PIL is filed before the HC of Uttarakhand in the issue of tuition fees in the present time when all the institution is closed down temporarily and government also issued an order which stated that private unaided schools in the state were permitted to conduct online classes and these private schools were prohibited to collect any fees other than tuition fees voluntarily from parents. But these private institutions were coercing parents to pay the fees which are in contravention to a government order dated 02.05.2020. The interim order pronounced by CJ Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice RC Khulbe in the present case is that private schools can’t demand tuition fees from students who are unable to access online classes and also, they cannot coerce parents to pay tuition fees, it was made voluntary.

The bench stated that “Children, who do not have access to the online course, cannot be asked to pay the tuition fee… It does appear that subtle means are being adopted by these private institutions to force parents to pay the tuition fees. Since payment of tuition by students is voluntary, none of the private schools shall send e-mails or WhatsApp messages or any form of communication to the parents calling upon them to pay the tuition fees”.

The bench issued a set of directions for proper implementation of government order in it true sense and to safeguard the individual from such type of incidents, also bench notes that private unaided institutions were coercing parents, it is evident as the order date 02.05.2020 as the order said the online classes were allowed from class 1 to 10^th but many private schools commenced online classes for Upper Kindergarten students and asked their parents to pay fees. To deal with all these issues bench issued 6 directions in their ruling.

No doubt that the order comes as a sigh of relief for students but here we don’t have to miss other perspectives as well which was also acknowledged by the court itself, the court admitted that schools incurred huge expenditure for its maintenance, salary of a teacher and other expenses, further adding and to justify they said “the object of Government Order dated 02.05.2020 is to ease the burden on parents, who do not even have the means to earn their livelihood in the period of crisis” but here we get to a major lacuna in the ruling will discuss all this further in this article.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DEVELOPMENT

The present development opens new avenues for the students of other states as this decision was given by Uttarakhand High Court it is applicable only in Uttarakhand as that is the jurisdiction of the HC but this judgement of HC can be used to contend in other PILs or in other cases as a persuasive value. The verdict is important especially for the residents of Uttarakhand as in the tough time of lockdown, the cost of education in private institutions is comparatively higher than that those of government institutions. The present development is not also legally backed by the HC verdict but also it has moral backing as the educational institutions are not profiteering institutions, they are a charity.

Time and again it was reiterated by the Apex court that education is a charity and it has different constitutional goals. This development is a ray of hope for students of other states as the same problem is faced by many other students but due to lack of any such legal backing or executive orders private institutions continuously charging the fees amid lockdown. Haryana government also directed private schools to charge tuition fees only and no other expenses till the closure of institutions, also if any institution found in contravention to the said order of the Haryana government serious actions will be taken against that institution under the Rule 158 of Haryana Education Rules 2003. [3] This development can give a new dimension to the students of Haryana to get their tuition fees waived off who are genuinely not able to pay it. Not a tinge of doubt that the development for sure opens a new opportunity for students to curb out their problems to some extent during the lockdown. The main issue that was tabled before the division bench is to examine that the online teaching method that is adopted by institutions is just a ruse to collect fees form students or not? This development also once again sparks up the issue of 2019, where a draft was proposed by UGC on the issue of regulation about the scale of college fees. [4]

IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT

Parents, students everyone was in dilemma and confused about paying or not to pay the fees of educational fees, as many state governments ordered and announced about the relaxation of school fees during the lockdown situation in the nation. From Haryana to UP several state governments announced that schools shouldn’t pressurize the parents to pay the fees in such a tough time of lockdown when the institute is not functional and closed down for an interim period.

The decision of Uttarakhand HC highlighted that despite the orders from the government the private schools were coercing the parents to pay the fees on the ground of the online teaching-learning process. The decision will make a remarkable impact particularly in the state of Uttarakhand as the decision ordered for the appointment of the district education officer and block development officer to check on the proper implementation government order and also they are nodal officers, any parents who are being pressurized to pay tuition fees can lodge their complaint with them. The decision impacted not only the students of the state of Uttarakhand but also it gives a ray of hope for other students to get a waiver in tuition fees y private school in their respective states. This decision makes clarity among parents about the status of payment of fees during the lockdown period.

When we are analyzing the situation from a legal perspective, we don’t have to forget what the order of court reads in this particular case or what is the prime objective of order, the learned counsel appearing for private unaided schools contented that there the private schools required huge expenditure which they need to incur and same comes from the fees of students. The court in this particular case stated that the order of government dated 02.05.2020 enables collection of tuition fees only for those institutions which are conducting online classes and the children are able to attend it, then only voluntarily if the student wants to pay he can pay but the school cannot coerce them for same.

The situation may vary from state to state as in the present case of Uttarakhand the court took note of the state order and assure that it would get implemented in its true sense, for the same HC comes out with the further directions for government. But if we see the case of Haryana the state government ordered that private schools to charge only tuition fees for now due to lockdown. The situation varies from state to state but the development is beneficial for most of the parents in the state of Uttarakhand in these tough times, as it will help them financially and economically.

PROVISIONS OF LEGISLATURE

The situation of pandemic possessed many new challenges before the world but the worst affected sector is education one and its mechanism of functioning. The burning question in this sector is about the payment of fees to respective institutions already institutions said that they will only charge tuition charge but is it right? As we are not attending classes due to COVID 19 and the institutions are not functional as of now and new pedagogy adopted but for what we have to pay fees to them, is the question possessed everywhere in the present time.

The hilly states like Uttarakhand and other states like that in Northeast states also faced problems in the new pedagogy as many students were not able to participate in online classes. In the present system, we already have legislation that stated about free education. The statutory obligation is cast on the institutions by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, provides free education to students who are not able to pay the fees, Section 3 of the Act provides for the same.

But the legislation has some limitation when we put it in the present context as it has age limit till 14 years but what about the students who are above 14 years should they need to pay the fees even if they can’t afford in this time when the whole economy is surviving hard due to COVID 19 and in 22 years for first time Moody’s downrated India’s ranking, what should we expect from the families of parents in this situation who are genuinely not able to pay fees. No doubt, that we have already a legislature that can answer the situation but partially. At present, we don’t have any provision in legislation which can straight forward answer the present question about can’t attend classes due to COVID 19 but still have to pay tuition fees.

CASE LAW

The situation in the present context is about the payment of tuition fees, the argument contended by the lawyer from the side of the private unaided school is that we require it as it required fees to incur the expenses of the institution for fulfilling the object of education, it was in the case of Japinder Singh v. Union of India, (Writ Petition no. 59 of 2020) which was filled in Uttarakhand High court in recently. The Apex court in the case of Modern Dental College V. State of M.P. (Civil Appeal no. 4060 of 2009) held that an educational institute cannot charge a fee that is beyond the purpose of fulfilling the end goal and objective of education.

When we take into consideration this case law of the Supreme Court of India in the present issue and then we try to get an answer we will get an easy answer to the question that if we need to pay tuition fees to institutions in the time of Covid-19.

History is precedent that time and again Supreme Court reiterated that educational institution is not allowed to make a profit it is not a business but it’s a charity. According to the aforementioned case the institution can charge fees for object of education only, in the present time when we address this question to ourselves then we get an answer for the topic. From where private unaided education institutes would incur their expenses like the salary of teachers and other basic needs for the functioning of an institution, we need to think about this. Therefore, the development in many states is specifically for the students who are not able to pay fees due to the financial crisis which shoots up due to lockdown.

ANALYSIS

The judiciary and state both take steps to assure that no student can suffer due to lockdown as we have seen in the recent development. When we are not attending the classes in Covid-19 then why we would have to pay the tuition fees. No doubt that it is right, but is it right for everyone? Even for those who are able to pay the fees. Here we can’t just say that yes because we also have to think about the private schools as their main source for functionality is the fees which are paid by the students to them. Several state government comes with interim order to answer this question and directed the private schools and education institution to waive off tuition fees like Haryana but some states also come with the order which is neutral for both ends for educational institutions as well as for students also but in every state the prime objective is to waive off tuition fees temporarily as the institutions are not functional but they are functioning online what about the faculty from where the institution will pay them if the tuition fees will also waived off. This is a situation of catch 22 for sure as both sides have their own challenges which can’t be neglected. To justify the arguments of students we can see that for what students pay fees in their institutions, the prime objective is to study there. Does online pedagogy will provide you all that was provided in the schools or colleges, no many things are missing shift from the traditional way to online one will seize opportunities like the campus environment, library and many other factors the list is long. So, what we’re getting before lockdown and what we are getting now has tons of difference, we are just receiving a part of the things that were offered to us due to unprecedented situations. No one can be blamed for it.

Each coin has two faces, same with the present situation, where everyone needs to understand that the waiver of fees should be provided to only those who really need it not to the person who can pay it, nowhere one other argument can be raised is about the discrimination and partiality for it we need a reasonable differentia. If this sense of belongingness comes in every one of us we can tackle one of the challenges possessed by the Covid-19. So, what we can learn from the recent development, and what is the answer to the question do students need to pay tuition fees when the institution is closed. The decision of court stated that no institution can coerce parents to pay the fees it is voluntary if they want they can otherwise not compulsion on them, but we need to understand as a responsible citizen that if we are easily able to pay then we should pay the fees as an institution also need to incur many expenses for its functionality. Here it is too difficult to provide a straight answer to the question as YES or NO.

CONCLUSION

The growth of every nation depends on their future generations. Already we are suffering from the pandemic and in such times, we are lacking mainly on an economic and financial basis. Educational institutions can’t coerce any parent who is not able to pay the fees due to their hard to ensure the same the judiciary and state have taken preventive steps in every possible way, especially the High court of Uttarakhand.

The pandemic brings upheaval in the education sector. The major question here is till when the institutions will be closed no one knows today, so what till then we can’t sit at homes. In the time of crisis, we need a well-planned strategic rounded planning in the educational system and students need to pay basic fees to institutions for functioning online and to pay the salaries to the teacher, also in the aforementioned information, we get to see the development which established a win-win situation for both the sides.