Srinagar, May 31: The fee waiver given by the government for students up to the elementary level (up to class 8th) in government schools across Jammu and Kashmir has left the heads of primary and middle schools grappling with a severe lack of resources to meet their daily expenditures.
The decision, aimed at ensuring free and compulsory education as a Fundamental Right under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, has inadvertently created a financial burden on government schools, which relied on minimal fees charged from students to support various school activities and essential services.
Traditionally, local funds generated through the collection of nominal fees played a vital role in supporting school activities, games, and, most importantly, providing meager monthly wages of Rs 100-200 to the poor sweepers, sourced from local sweeping funds.
However, with no fees being charged from students anymore, government primary and middle schools are finding it increasingly difficult to cover the expenses required for day-to-day operations.
“It was decided during a meeting convened in 2020 and the minutes of the meeting were shared. However, no formal order has been issued since the minutes were disseminated, resulting in confusion regarding the implementation of the decision across schools,” said a school teacher, wishing not to be named.
A school head of a government primary school said if the fee was waived off for the students up to class 8th, the department should have allocated some special funds to schools up to the elementary level, enabling them to meet the daily expenditures.
“The absence of clear guidelines from the education department regarding fee collection has left school heads in a dilemma, unsure whether to collect fees from students or not. Furthermore, teachers are explicitly prohibited from collecting any type of fee from students, further exacerbating the financial strain on schools,” the school head told Greater Kashmir.
He said that previously, schools would collect an annual charge of Rs 375 from middle-class students and Rs 200 from primary class students.
“A portion of this fees, as per prescribed shares, would be deposited into the account of the respective ZEOs and the rest of the amount was utilized by school heads for various purposes, including maintenance and development, purchasing essential supplies like paper and printing materials, organizing school functions, maintaining the library, and managing the computer laboratory, among other social activities. All these expenditures were carried out following proper codal formalities,” he said.
Notably, the provision of the fee waiver to students was discussed in the meeting given the provisions outlined in the RTE Act, which guarantees free and compulsory education for children between the ages of six and fourteen.
“There was no proper order issued regarding the matter but schools have stopped collecting any fees from students. The administrative department should clear the air in it,” another school head said.
Principal Secretary School Education Department (SED) Alok Kumar when contacted said the department was aware about the matter.
“We will see how to proceed further,” Alok Kumar told Greater Kashmir.