Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, April 5

Punjab Education Department has initiated strict action against private schools for demanding a fee from parents during the ongoing lockdown, Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said on Sunday.

Despite clear directions from the Punjab government to not seek fee during the lockdown, some private schools had been sending messages to parents.

The education department had issued an order on March 23, directing all private schools in the state to reschedule their admissions for 2020-21. The schools were asked to provide a window of at least 30 days for submission of fees after the situation gets normalized. They have also been directed not to charge any late fee or fine from the students for this period. After the issuance of these orders, the education department has regularly been warned schools of strict if they are found violating the order.

“But despite repeated instructions, there were reports about some schools which had been asking the parents to pay the fees of their children after the results. We have initiated strict action against La Foundation School, Sangrur, DAV Public School, Bhupindra Road Patiala, Bhupindra International School Patiala, Delhi Public School, Ludhiana, and Mount Litera Zee School, Faridkot,” Singla told The Tribune.

Singla said that the Ministry had decided that if it receives any complaint against a school in the future, first, it would get the school locked through a District Magistrate, then it would get an FIR registered against it, after which a reply would be sought from the school management.

“In all complaints till today, we have issued show-cause notices and given 7 days to file their reply against the violation. If they fail to give a satisfactory reply, we are going to cancel their affiliation or no objection certificate (NOC). But in future, first, we would get the school locked, file an FIR and then seek their replies,” Singla said.

He said that parents from all over the state could lodge complaints directly on his email: vijayindersingla@gmail.com