Survey of 250 Karnataka schools shows over Rs 31 crore fee arrears last year

Bengaluru, 19 July 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: Several private schools in Karnataka participated in a sample survey conducted by the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) which showed over half of the schools had defaulted their loan payment amid the pandemic. The survey included 250 schools across the state. According to the survey, over 17 schools had defaulted on their loans for over 15 months; 30 schools had defaulted on their loans between 10 and 15 months; and 86 schools, for less than 10 months.

In the document, KAMS said that the fee arrears in the academic year of 2019-20 amounted to Rs 31,62,71,015 as 36,655 parents had failed to pay the fees in 250 schools. The survey also said that 1,25,839 students were enrolled in these schools in the academic year 2020-21 and that the fee arrears had shot up to over Rs 63 crore in this academic year.

Further, a total of 65,745 students are apparently not availing education at these 250 schools surveyed, however, are on the rolls of the schools allegedly on authorities’ instruction. This apparently caused a cumulative loss worth Rs 41,34,80,150 to the 250 schools. “The authorities have harassed and made us keep some of the kids in the rolls despite them not contacting us. Further if we try to contact them, the parents’ phone numbers are switched off. We really don’t know anything about these children! Whether they are admitted elsewhere or if they have dropped out. Yet, they are officially our students but we don’t receive a penny from them as fees. This is a huge loss,” said Shashi Kumar, the general secretary of KAMS.

Shashi Kumar further alleged that most of those who were paying the fees are also not paying the complete amount. The document said that 45% of parents paid 100% of the fees, 17% paid over 75% of the fees, 12% paid over 50%, 17% paid over 25%, and 9% parents paid under 25% of the fees amount. Shashi Kumar said that these percentages of fees were calculated after providing the 30% discount that the government had mandated.

The other issue that Shashi Kumar raised was that the losses incurred by schools due to the government mandate of reducing the tuition fee by 30% is much more – close to 50-60% of their income. The Karnataka government earlier had mandated that the schools were only permitted to collect 70% of the tuition fee and that there be no increase in fees compared to the previous year. “This 30% discount in fees appears to be small, but one must remember that it is a 30% discount only on the tuition fee. Beyond the tuition fee, we used to collect many other types of fees such as development fees which were used to pay teachers conducting activities such as yoga. Also, we were not allowed to collect transport fees but has the government waived off the taxes we have to pay? In reality, the total discount we are being forced to give is easily over 50%-60%.

Speaking to reporters, another member of KAMS, Kiran Prasad, said, “There are over 3,600 member schools and this was a tiny sample survey. What numbers you see here just grows exponentially if we start considering more schools. The private school sector has been the worst hit in this situation.”

Shashi Kumar also lashed out against Education Minister S Suresh Kumar saying that the latter tried to gain goodwill among the parents at the cost of private schools. Shashi Kumar claimed that the parents have been paying all other expenses such as house rent, water and electricity without issues but have been taking advantage of the private schools.

KAMS demanded the government make it compulsory for the parents to admit children with compulsory attendance along with compulsory assessment. Further, they demanded that the government needs to caution banks not to issue auction notices and provide discounts on compulsory payments such as ESI, PF, professional tax, electricity bills, water charges, processing fee, exam fee, school bus insurance, fitness certificate and property tax payment. It also mentioned that high courts in several states have allowed schools to take action against parents who are defaulting on school fees.

However, many parents are countering the schools’ narrative. Speaking to TNM, M Shakeel, who is the president of Voice of Parents – a collective for aggrieved parents – said, “Firstly let the schools show how much their spending is in this period. We know that they have definitely had to spend less as they are paying only half salaries and have sacked so many teachers. The schools never showed this and so, the ministry saw the data we submitted that 25% of teachers had been sacked and ordered a 30% discount on tuition fee.”

He added, “Schools are collecting less fees and therefore are making less [money] than before – nobody is denying this. But we need to understand that every year, there is some surplus amount collected in the fees which is used for developing their school. Our question is, do the schools need to do this even under these circumstances? If the schools are really under distress and they are not able to run their school with the money they have got, let them show the figures publicly. Instead of that, they are saying that they need the entire fee at the same time but are also paying teachers less – this is just profiteering.”

Shakeel also argued that expenses like water and electricity have also reduced for schools. “Considering all these reduced spending, if they are still in the red, we can pay them. But they haven’t shared figures to show that this has happened.”