Notice to 38 private schools in Punjab for demanding fees during lockdown

As many as 15 more private schools across Punjab were issued show-cause notice for demanding fee during lockdown, said state education minister Vijay Inder Singla in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Speaking to media on Thursday, state cabinet minister further stated that so far a total of 38 private schools have received show cause notice for not adhering to state's government's direction on fee issue.

"Show cause notices have already been issued to the violators and they have been given a seven day period to file their reply against the violation. If they failed to give satisfactory reply, we are going to cancel their affiliation or no objection certificate (NOC)," he added.

"The schools should also not take transportation fees and books charges from the students for the next academic session till the lockdown period is over," Singla added.

The state cabinet minister also informed that the education department had issued an order dated March 23, 2020 in which all the private schools of the state have been asked to reschedule their admissions for 2020-21.

"With these orders, the schools were directed to provide window period of atleast 30 days for submission of fees after the situation gets normalised. The schools have also been directed not to charge any late fees or fine from the students for this period."

The cabinet minister was of the view that coronavirus is a worldwide disaster and due to the lockdown, the parents are not able to pay the fees even through online banking options.