Private school staffs in Karnataka take out a rally, holiday declared

Bengaluru: Private schools in Karnataka have declared a holiday on February 23 as the teaching and non-teaching staff called for a strike against the government’s order asking schools to charge only 70% of the tuition fees this academic year.

As per the press release by the Karnataka Private Unaided School Managements, Teaching and Non-teaching Staff Coordination Committee (KPMTCC), the staff would take out a rally from the City Railway Station to Freedom Park in Bengaluru on February 23.

The committee asserted that the Department of Primary and Secondary Education was making it difficult for private schools to function as it demanded they fulfill norms required for new schools.

Both online and offline classes have been stopped, schools including the ones affiliated to the state board, central board, and international schools.

Talking about the financial hardship faced by the staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, D. Shashi Kumar, convener of the committee informed that many of the staff had lost jobs or faced salary cuts as the majority of parents hadn’t paid the fees.