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Closure lands schools in financial trouble Saturday, March 17, 2001

AHMEDABAD: Education minister Anandiben Patel's diktat on compulsory closure of schools fearing a quake has apparently pushed majority school managements in city on brink of a financial crisis.

Gone with the students, now on a long vacation, is the fee for almost five months. But financial obligations of running a school including paying salaries to teachers, property tax, electricity and water bills and other miscellaneous expenses remain, which is precisely the cause of worry for most managements.

A glimmer of hope was offered by the state government that promised early disbursement of grant-in-aid in view of the quake but the same has not been fulfilled as managements still await the money.

"Fee is our only source of income as we do not receive any grant-in-aid from the government. It has become very difficult for us to pay the teachers without the fee money," conceded Sanjay Patel, management trustee of Ravi Bal Vidyamandir, a primary school with a strength of 425 students in Asarwa.

Patel says that management has decided to pay salaries to the teachers employed till March. As for paying salary of remaining two month, he says teachers will simply have to wait until June when the parents will clear off dues to get admission in the next academic session. "All schools in our area have decided to adopt this policy. With financial resources all exhausted, there is no other option to consider," he shrugs.

Curiously, the problem is more specific to small-time schools than big schools who, though are feeling the pinch, have enough contingency funds to tide over the crisis with comparative ease.

"Functioning in labour dominated areas, we do not charge any donation, just a nominal fee. However, closure of schools has posed serious problems for us as there has been no curtail in expenditure. My school will have to pay for the examination papers that have been printed, one cannot refuse to pay the same just because the government has decided to mass promote students," says president of Primary Schools Management Association Natubhai Patel and trustee of Sharda Shikshatirth. Patel also hints that given the crunch, a number of schools might decide to withheld declaring results until parents clear off the dues for this academic year.

Meanwhile, managements of almost all schools, big and small, have decided to approach the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to relax property tax being charged from the schools in special post-quake situation. "We do not expect AMC to waive the tax but will plead to give us a breather by agreeing to certain concessions in the hefty commercial taxes imposed by the corporation", said trustee of a reputed school in the city.

 

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