Jaipur, Oct 12 (IANS): The Rajasthan High Court on Monday reserved its order on the issue of school fee collection from parents during COVID-19 and barred schools from taking any kind of school fee till its further order.

In the hearing held on Monday before the divisional bench of Justice Indrajeet Mahanti and Justice Satish Sharma, the bench questioned the state government on why the schools were not following the Fee Regulation Act of 2016 and what action has the government taken when the parents are on the streets for the last six months demanding fee waiver in the wake of the pandemic and lockdowns. The court also asked the state government what action it has taken to resolve the issue of school fee collection.

It told the state government to form a committee where parents from the parents-teachers associations can present their views on this matter.

A joint hearing is taking place before the double bench of the court on the petitions filed by advocate Sunil Samadia, the state government and parents. The court, after hearing all the parties, reserved its order and said the fees will continue to be withheld till the next order.

Earlier the High Court had ordered that 70 pc of the tuition fee be paid by parents. However, as private schools were reportedly charging 70 per cent of the total fees and flouting the High Court order of charging 70 percent of tuition fees in the current session, the All Rajasthan Parents Forum filed an appeal in the Rajasthan High Court, requesting it to defer its earlier order and to direct schools to claim only actual expenses while ignoring the additional expenses.