Govt asks for audited statements of private schools’ finances

Govt asks for audited statements of private schools’ finances

Srinagar: After several reports of teachers being dismissed from service even though fees are being collected from students by private schools, the School Education Department has sought audited statements from private schools of their income and expenditure.
Throughout the prevailing pandemic, there have been frequent reports about “mass layoffs” of teachers at private schools and denying of salaries, even as parents have said that the institutions are charging fees as usual from students.
A renowned school in Budgam kept charging transportation fees from students even though the school transport did not ply at all, a parent told Kashmir Reader.
Complaints have also been pouring in from teachers about termination of their services or cuts in their salaries.
The Principal Secretary, School Education and Skill Development, Asgar Samoon tweeted earlier this week that there were “Frequent complaints pouring in about non-payment of genuine wages to private school teachers, termination of their services by management without notice despite pandemic.”
“Govt may seek audited reports of fee structure, students on roll, salaries paid from August 2019 till date,” he wrote.
Now a circular has been issued by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) which mentions that it has received complaints from staff of recognised unaided private schools regarding either termination of services or non-payment of salaries.
Director of School Education Kashmir, Mohammed Younis Malik, has written in the circular that there had been “clear-cut orders from the government that the tuition fee only be charged from the students during the lockdown period in lieu of COVID-I9 pandemic facilitating the private schools to meet the expenditure of the salaries of the staff there.”
According to the circular, audited statements have been sought from the schools for 2018-19 and 2019-2020.
Earlier in August, the government had said it will cancel the recognition of such unaided private schools that were withholding salaries or were mulling to terminate staff members during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On June 16 this year, the DSEK had issued a circular instructing all recognised private schools to charge only tuition fees from students on a monthly basis instead of quarterly basis for the lockdown period.
“No fee hike shall be made during the academic session 2020-21and the annual fee, if any, can be charged monthly on a pro-rata basis, after schools reopen,” read the circular.

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