Bringing much relief to teachers, the district education department has categorically asked private schools in Gautam Budh Nagar to pay full salaries to their teaching staff for the months of May and June. Many teachers had feared amid the ongoing lockdown announced to halt the spread of the coronavirus disease they will not be paid salaries for two months by the schools.
District inspector of schools (DIOS), Gautam Budh Nagar, Neeraj Pandey, said the schools have been allowed to collect tuition fees for the first quarter of the present fiscal, i.e. April to June. “But instead of collecting the fees for three months quarterly, the schools have been asked to collect fees on a monthly basis,” he said.
He further said as per state government’s directives, the schools can’t hike the fees for the current academic year 2020-21. “They have been directed not to collect transportation charges and other miscellaneous fees for the lockdown period. Since the schools have been allowed to take tuition fees, there is no reason for them to stop the salaries of their teachers,” he said.
A teacher from Delhi Public in Sector 30, who requested anonymity, said the school management has already decided to cut the salaries of the teaching staff for May and June. “Earlier, the school management had decided to make a 100% deduction in our salaries, but after the directives from the state government the school might reduce the salaries by 50 to 60%.”
Social activist and member of the Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) Gangeshwar Dutt Sharma said it will a gross injustice to the teachers if they won’t be paid by the schools even when they have been allowed to collect fees from the students. “We have suggested the state government to treat the April-June quarter of the academic session as a zero period and the new academic session for 2020-21 should start from July 1. We suggest that no feed should be collected for this zero period. We have also suggested the government that schools should also be allowed for non-payment of the salaries to the teachers and staff for this period. Instead, the school management should give them three months’ advance and deduct the amount in 12 installments from their regular monthly salaries,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Social activist and member of the Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) Gangeshwar Dutt Sharma said it will a gross injustice to the teachers if they won’t be paid by the schools even when they have been allowed to collect fees from the students. “We have suggested the state government to treat the April-June quarter of the academic session as a zero period and the new academic session for 2020-21 should start from July 1. We suggest that no feed should be collected for this zero period. We have also suggested the government that schools should also be allowed for non-payment of the salaries to the teachers and staff for this period. Instead, the school management should give them three months’ advance and deduct the amount in 12 installments from their regular monthly salaries,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sharma also said that some private schools in Greater Noida had announced that they will not take fees for the lockdown period. “It is a welcome step. Other reputed private schools too should not collect fees for the lockdown period,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kamini Bhasin, principal, Delhi Public School in Sector 30, said the school administration is yet to make a decision on reducing the salaries of their teachers and other employees. “The staff are getting their salaries on time. As far as collecting fees from students is concerned, we are following all the guidelines issued by the government,” she said.
Savita Mehta, vice-president of corporate communication wing, Amity International School, said the school management has always been supportive of its employees. “We are paying salaries regularly to our staff, and they will continue to get their salaries regularly in the future as well,” she said.