As the ban on collection of school fees imposed by various state governments has resulted in salary defaults of teachers and support staff, the Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) on Thursday said it has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor seeking monetary assistance for schools and parents.
In a letter addressed to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, Sanjay Patil, state president, MESTA, said education, which is among the priority lending sectors, should also be given loan benefits extended to other priority sectors during the present crisis.
Patil suggested a ‘two-point programme’ to ensure education is continued and salaries are paid to the school staff. “RBI should provide interest-free loans to parents to fund education of their children through direct bank transfer or any mechanism deemed fit by the governor. And secondly, similar interest-free loans should also be made available to schools to pay recurring costs such as teacher salaries, overheads and capital expenditure,” he said.
The MESTA said the government, schools and parents should work together to ensure salaries are paid, while simultaneously minimising the financial impact on parents.
On April 24, the MESTA had made a request to Maharashtra education minister Varsha Gaikwad to revoke the ban on collection of fees by private schools. However, no statement has so far come out from the state government in this regard, MESTA said. The association said it represents over 18,000 trustee members and 80,000 teachers across 37 districts of the state.