As many private schools have started defaulting on payment of salaries owning to revenue cruch on account of school closures and therefore non-payment of fees by students, The Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) has approached the union government with a loan proposal to schools and parents so as to not burden them amid this crisis while at the same time ensure continuity of employment of teachers and non-teaching staff in thousands of unaided schools.
In a letter dated May 18 submitted to Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, MESTA has requested for necessary financial assistance to private schools and parents so that teaching and nonteaching staff get their salaries. Several state governments have issued bans on collection of fee by private schools as incomes of families have been badly hit due to layoffs and non-payment of salaries. Also, no services is being provided by schools in face of continued closures in Covid19 pandemic.
Sanjay Tayade Patil, State President, MESTA has been calling for a solution for about 2 crore teaching and non-teaching staff across 5 lakh private schools who have been contributing towards providing uninterrupted education through various e-learning solutions. Patil in the letter said, “We propose a three-point solution to the government which in sync with the government policies and not burden on the exchequer. The government should provide interest free loans for parents to fund their child’s education through direct benefit transfer. Secondly, similar loans should be provided to the schools to pay recurring costs such as teacher salaries, overheads and capital expenditures and thirdly, Direct Subsidy should be allowed on purchase of requisite computer hardware, such as laptops and computer desktops, as well as necessary software for continuation of education through online modes.” MESTA had earlier also written a similar letter to RBI Governor.
