MADURAI: The Federation of Private School Associations (FePSA) has appealed to the state government to formulate a committee to decide on the functioning of schools till they completely reopen and resume normal functioning after the Covid-19 pandemic. Federation president M Arumugam said the committee should comprise representatives of private school associations to look into proper conduct of online classes, fees determination and to monitor the progress of students throughout the year.
“The committee should ensure that decisions taken by the committee should neither affect the parents nor the schools. Once Covid-19 cases come down schools should be reopened and can function in a shift pattern such as conducting class for students on alternate days or in morning and afternoon sessions. Till then schools should conduct online classes and have continuous assessment of students to determine if they are eligible to be promoted and it should not be a blanket all pass,” he said.
Fees should be fixed based on the spending of the government for students for government schools in cities, towns and rural areas. They said that the state government should do away with the existing fees determination committee’s structure. They claimed that the existing fees determination pattern is unjust and unrealistic.
The federation also sought monthly relief of Rs 3,000 for each of the nearly 10 lakh teaching and non-teaching staff and owners of small private schools of nearly 15,000 private schools across the state till schools resume normal functioning after the pandemic. He said that they are struggling economically as schools remain closed for close to one-and-a-half-years.
