Maharashtra Private School teachers requests RBI to give interest-free loans to parents, schools to pay their salaries

- Interest free loans should be made available for parents to fund their child’s education through Direct Benefit Transfer scheme

- Similar loans should be made available to schools to pay recurring costs such as teacher salaries, overheads and capital expenditure

April 30, 2020: The Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) has written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Mr. Shaktikanta Das requesting him to provide a monetary package for parents and schools as the ban on collection of fees by various state governments on private schools have badly impacted the teachers and support staff resulting in defaulting in salaries.

On April 24, MESTA had made a similar request to the Maharashtra Education Minister, Varsha Gaikwad, requesting the withdrawal of the ban on the collection of fees by private schools as teachers and non-teaching staff were experiencing a financial crisis due to non-payment of salaries. However, no statement has so far come out from the state government to this regard.

MESTA’s state president, Sanjay Patil, mentioned that while the RBI has extended its outreach to various other sectors, education being among the priority lending sector is in dire need of monetary assistance. He added that most of the private schools across India have started defaulting on salaries leaving the teaching and non-teaching staff fighting for their survival and livelihood.

MESTA is representing over 18,000 Trustee Members and 80,000 teachers across 37 districts of Maharashtra, and is supporting over two crore teaching and non-teaching staff’s across five lakh private schools in India as their survival solely depends on fees collected from their parents. Despite the adversity, MESTA mentions, teachers have fulfilled their duty and maintained continuity in education through online learning and other methods

In the letter to the RBI governor, Patil adds that there should be a joint force to resolve this issue and the Central Bank has a key role to perform. “Amidst this crisis, it is imperative that schools, the government and parents operate in close proximity towards ensuring salaries to teachers and non-teaching staff while simultaneously minimizing the financial impact on parents.”

Hence, MESTA state president mentions the need for the RBI to help the education sector from crippling down and going bankrupt. He suggests a two-point programme through which the education sector can be revived, salaries can be paid to the teachers and support staff, preventing schools across the country from shutting down and ensuring continuity in education.

“Firstly, since education is under the priority lending sector, loan benefits provided to other priority sectors should also be extended to the education sector in these times of crisis. RBI should provide interest-free loans to parents to fund their child’s education through direct bank transfer or any mechanism deemed fit by the governor. And secondly, similar interest-free loans should also be made available to schools to pay recurring costs such as teacher salaries, overheads, and capital expenditure,” said Mr. Patil adding that this initiative will reap dividends for the country in the coming years.

ABOUT MAHARASHTRA ENGLISH SCHOOL TRUSTEES ASSOCIATION (MESTA – An non-profit making initiative to enhance and empower English school in Maharashtra), founded in 2014 under the leadership of Founder President Hon. Shri SanjayTayadePatil who is working for the betterment of the English medium school all over Maharashtra. MESTA being the exclusive and the only platform were the school trustees have received justice throughout against their various challenges, operational problems and grievances. MESTA has kept its unique and powerful existence by being able to forward these grievances and appeals to the government and create reformation in Maharashtra Education system. Under the guidance of Hon. Shri. Sanjay TayadePatil and support of all state office bearers it was fruitfully possible to bring all the English medium schools under one roof of MESTA.Till today MESTA has succeeded in enrolling 18,000+ Trustee members and 80,000 teachers setting up MESTA branches in 37 district of Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Pvt School teachers send SoS call to Edu Min as schools start defaulting on salaries

- MESTA takes the lead to put forth the case of salaries for private school teachers in the state

- Teachers fear an indefinite loss in salaries, jobs as state government decision on non-collection of school fees have hurt their livelihood

April 24, 2020: The Maharashtra English Schools Trustees Association (MESTA) has written to Ms. Varsha Gaikwad, Education Minister, Government of Maharashtra, requesting her to immediately withdraw the ban on collection of school fees by private school operators so that the teaching and support staff can be paid their impending salaries.

Most of the teaching and non-teaching staff of private schools in the state haven’t been paid or would go unpaid from this month onwards as they are heavily dependent on fee collections. Sanjay Patil, State President, MESTA has urged the education minister to withdraw the circular issued on March 30^th preventing private schools from collecting fees until the completion of lockdown.

The teaching and non-teaching staff across the state fear for their livelihood and survival even though the prime minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi has mentioned that all establishments should refrain from retrenching staff. Despite no money in the coffers, teachers from most of the private schools have maintained continuity in education through e-learning and innovative techniques to reach out to students so that they are not at a loss. Teachers state they are looking at a bleak and uncertain future as they are unsure when the moratorium will be lifted and they will be paid their dues.

Data from the Economic Survey of Maharashtra tabled in 2018 reveals that there were 22,477 private unaided schools in the state - a rise of over 111 percent since 2013-14. There are 18,000 Trustee Members and 80,000 teachers across 37 districts associated with MESTA in the state. Across states, chief ministers have imposed similar restrictions on collecting fees citing difficulty among parents to cough up the amount due to job losses and salary cuts, thus making it difficult for schools to make payments to over two crore teaching and non-teaching staff across five lakh private schools.

MESTA in their letter to the education minister urged schools, government and parents to work together to minimize the impact on everyone. “We have proposed a four-point programme to the education minister in our petition which includes payment of fees on a monthly basis rather than quarterly, as was the practice earlier. We also urge the government to support us in our endeavour as this would ensure continuity of academics,” said Sanjay Patil.

He added that while education was under the priority lending sector, loan benefits provided to other sectors should also be extended to the education sector in crisis situations. “Interest-free loans should be made available for parents to pay school fees and similar loans should be made available to schools to pay recurring costs such as salaries, overheads and capital expenditures.”

Teachers from various states including Maharashtra have already started campaigning on various online platforms through petitions, citing domestic hardships and fearing schools going bankrupt, thus putting their careers in jeopardy and urging the government to take adequate measures to ease them out of their problems. Teachers through their online petitions also mention the catastrophic effect shutting down of schools can have on students and education as a whole.

ABOUT MAHARASHTRA ENGLISH SCHOOL TRUSTEES ASSOCIATION (MESTA – An nonprofit making initiative to enhance and empower English school in Maharashtra), founded in 2014 under the leadership of Founder President Hon. ShriSanjayraoTaydePatil who is working for the betterment of the English medium school all over Maharashtra. MESTA being the exclusive and the only platform were the school trustees have received justice throughout against their various challenges, operational problems and grievances. MESTA has kept its unique and powerful existence by being able to forward these grievances and appeals to the government and create reformation in Maharashtra Education system. Under the guidance of Hon. Shri.SanjayraoTayadePatil and support of all state office bearers it was fruitfully possible to bring all the English medium schools under one roof of MESTA.Till today MESTA has succeeded in enrolling 18,000+ Trustee members and 80,000 teachers setting up MESTA branches in 37 district of Maharashtra.