Punjab Private Schools Push Back Against Five Percent Fee Hike Cap

Private school groups in Punjab have spoken out against the new government order that puts a five percent limit on yearly fee increases. The same rule also asks schools to return any extra money they collected from parents over the last three years. The groups say this move is not financially possible and may go to the Punjab and Haryana Court if the matter is not sorted through talks. Read the article to know more details.

School Bodies Warn of Financial Trouble

Leaders of two big private school groups addressed the media on Tuesday to share their concerns. Kulbhushan Sharma who leads the National Independent School Alliance and Harpal Singh who leads the Recognised Affiliated Schools Association in Punjab both asked the government to pause the order and start talks with school associations, parents and education experts before bringing the policy in. They pointed out that the earlier rule allowed schools to raise fees up to eight percent every year and many schools planned their spending around that. The money was used to build better teachers salaries, buy new campus infrastructure, set up laboratories, create smart classrooms, bring in digital learning tools, improve safety measures and grow sports facilities. The groups say these plans were made under the old system and forcing refunds over three years will badly affect daily operation.

Covid Loans Rising Costs and the Call for Dialogue 

The associations also reminded everyone that many schools in Punjab are still paying back loans they took during the Covid 19 pandemic when classes had stopped and income had dried up. With rising prices everywhere from electricity and transport to maintenance and technology spending on schools has only gone up while staff salaries make up the biggest part of school costs. 

The groups say capping fee hikes at five percent will leave very little room for salary revisions and that may hurt the quality of education over time. They also shared that nearly 30.6 lakh students study in private schools in Punjab compared to 26.7 lakh in government schools and the sector gives work to about 1.46 lakh teachers. Their big question was simple. If private schools struggle, where will the government put over 30 lakh more students and find about 1.5 lakh new teachers. They also pointed to real problems in government schools such as teachers shortage, single teacher schools, empty posts and weak internet connectivity. The school bodies have asked the Punjab government once again to sit down and talk instead of letting the matter end up in court.