Gujarat HC Questions Government on No Fee Exemption For Engineering and Medical College Students

The Gujarat High Court on August 5, 2020 has asked the government that if teaching is a noble and charitable cause, then why are the engineering and medical students not exempted from paying fees?

Earlier the state government had released an order on July 16, 2020 stating all the private schools will not levy online education charges and if any fees are taken, that has to be returned. The schools are instructed not to charge any kind of fees until the situation normalizes.

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Gujarat HC said in this regard, "If teaching is a noble and charitable profession as stated by the government in its resolution, then why does the state not take a step to waive off the tuition fees for college students? Why is the waiver not implemented for all educational institutes?"

In unprecedented times like COVID-19, there are no other alternatives but to conduct online classes, so that the education of students doesn't go at a halt. The Court also addressed that managing education in these times is a strenuous task and requires a lot of hard work and effort, for that the professionals must be paid.

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The state HC disposed of all the petitions and concluded that government and school federations should sit together and arrive at a solution to resolve all the issues amicably and a fresh government resolution should be issued and followed.

The court discarded four PILs filed by private school association and federation against no fee order and has advised all the educational institutes to outlook profit-making schemes for the next few months and understand the economic downfall faced by the country in the pandemic outbreak.