By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 22 : With the closure of all educational institutions following the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Education Department has notified that school fees should be collected only upto the month of March 2020 without any hike, while admission fees may be collected.
The Education Department also made it clear that salary of the staff from April to July should be paid and grouped the schools under three categories.
Issuing an official notification towards this effect, the Education Commissioner said that schools may collect monthly school fees (including tuition fee under any nomenclature) upto the month of March, 2020 without any hike.
The order also grouped schools into three categories depending upon the number of enrolment and accordingly laid down norms of school fees (including tuition fee under any nomenclature) and salary of staff to be ensured by the schools with effect from April to July.
It was directed that schools with enrolment of less than 200 and schools with enrolment of 200 to 700 students must not charge any tuition fee but must ensure teachers and non teaching staff are paid 50 pc of their salary (payment may be made after the lockdown is over).
Schools which have enrolment above 700 should not charge any fee and at the same time ensure full salaries of teachers and non teaching staff, the order said.
The department also ordered all schools to ensure that some teaching-learning process takes place during the lockdown period.
Fees, if already collected for these months (April to July, 2020), by the schools, then they shall be adjusted with subsequent months in future, the order continued.
All the school managements shall ensure that the order is fully complied with and in the event of non-compliance by any school authority, the same may be reported to the Department through email address
[email protected] along with details and proof, it said.
Speaking to the media, Education Minister Dr Thokchom Radheshyam said that there are more than 1000 private schools in Manipur and added that due to the COVID – 19 pandemic the schools have closed greatly affecting the academic calendar and thereby creating apprehension, anxieties to the students as well as to the teachers, non-teaching staff, parents, guardians.
Commissioner of Education (S) T Ranjit Singh, Director Education (S) Th Kirankumar and officials concerned were also with the Education Minister.