Haryana's decision to re-open all schools from July 27 has led to widespread protests from the parents of the schoolchildren. An order has been issued by the additional chief secretary to all districts, declaring summer vacations from July 1 to July 26 in all schools of the state . “The schools will reopen on July 27 i.e Monday,” read the order.
“On one hand they issue advisories to keep children inside homes, [telling us] not to take them to shops, malls, and on the other, they want us to send them to schools. And all this is being done to allow schools to seek enhanced fees and additional charges as currently they are just getting tuition fees from us. We will not send our children to schools till Haryana is COVID-19 free. Moreover, even MHA orders of Unlock 2 mandate closure of schools till July 31,” said the Haryana Parents Association.
It may be noted that schools across the state have been alleging that parents are not paying them fees and this has led to delay or non-payment of salaries to teachers.
Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal's announcement that the state would revive its schools in a phased manner, starting from July, had drawn flak. The parents have demanded reconsideration of the decision.
Meanwhile, the private schools in the state had moved the High Court against the state government’s order nullifying the importance of school leaving certificate (SLC). The government mandated issue of SLC within 15 days, after which the student shall be deemed eligible for admission with or without the SLC. This was done to aid students who lined up for admission in government schools citing economic woes due to the lockdown. The order has been challenged by Haryana Private School & Children Welfare Trust through advocate Pankaj Maini.
The petitioner has argued that parents, who have not paid any fee since March 2020, have used the government order as a tool to not pay the outstanding dues. The private schools say that the order is an attempt to scuttle the rights of the private unaided schools.
The High Court bench of Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan issued a notice seeking response from the state government, but made it clear that the mere pendency of the matter will be no ground for the private schools for not issuing school leaving certificates to students.
