Karnataka private schools to lodge police complaints against parents who haven't paid fees

KAMS General Secretary D Shashikumar said that if parents fail to settle dues before filing for the TC to withdraw their kids from their current schools, they will file police reports about 'cheating' because they did not pay the fees ordered by the Karnataka High Court.

The Karnataka Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools has lately decided to file police charges against parents who have refused to pay the required school fees as directed by the Karnataka High Court. They have announced this after the state government advised private schools not to withhold transfer certificates of pupils whose parents have submitted applications to transfer their children out of their current school. A recent gathering of member schools resulted in the decision.

KAMS General Secretary D Shashikumar said that if parents fail to settle dues before filing for the TC to withdraw their kids from their current schools, they will file police reports about 'cheating' because they did not pay the fees ordered by the Karnataka High Court.

Earlier, the Karnataka High Court authorized private schools to collect up to 85% of tuition fees for the 2019-2020 academic year. The institutions were directed to provide a 15% discount since facilities remained underutilized due to the Covid-19 epidemic, which forced educational sessions to be held online. According to media reports, a member of a private school's administration alerted the parents of nine children that they had not paid their fees for the previous academic year. He emphasized that some parents have transferred their children to government-aided schools, while others have moved them to private schools whose tuition is the same as their prior school without paying the previous tuition fee.

He went on to say that this is a heinous injustice to management. In response to the KAMS statement, the state secretary of the Voice of Parents Association stated that schools should not look at the matter from a humanitarian standpoint. He further added that if the case goes to court, the school administration would be obliged to produce affidavits detailing how the fee slabs were determined.