The members of All Uttarakhand Parents’ Association assembled at the office of the District Magistrate of Dehradun on Monday and lodged their strong protest against the alleged loot of private school operators. The president of the association Niraj Singhal told The Pioneer that the parents are agitated as the education department is doing nothing to control the hegemony of private school owners.
He said that on the order of Dehradun DM Ravinath Raman, the Chief Education Officer (CEO) of Dehradun SP Khali had asked all the Block Education Officers (BEO) on February 27, to ensure that all the private schools follow the norms of fees increase and compulsorily constitute Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) in their schools. Singhal alleged that the BEO’s of the district are sitting on the orders and have done nothing to enforce the order till date.
He said that the association demands punitive action against these BEOs. The association threatened to intensify their agitation if the State Government does nothing to prevent the private schools from harassing the common people.
AbVP activists gherao Education Min
Activists of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) gheraod State Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani when he visited the Chirowali primary school on Monday. The minister incidentally had gone there to attend a campaign urging Government schools to take enroll more students. The ABVP members, who were there, started protesting against the alleged loot of the private schools and submitted a memorandum to Naithani asking him to immediately intervene in the matter.
They alleged the private schools have been found increasing fees arbitrarily every year and forcing the parents to buy stationery, books and other things at high prices from them. The minister assured the ABVP activists that he is in touch with the senior officials and the State Government would soon come out with a concrete steps to address the issue.