The activism shown by new Education Minister Arvind Pandey for putting reins on the private schools has rekindled hopes among general public that the open loot of these schools would get checked now.
Taking a proactive stance on the complaints of parents about harassment of parents by the private schools, the minister ordered the officers of education department and state administration to put an immediate end to this harassment. He said that the schools should not charge readmission fees and the caution money. The minister even ordered that the above mentioned fee should be immediately refunded in case they are already levied. He also hinted that the Government would bring the ‘Private Schools Regulatory Authority act’ to give more powers to the State administration to control these schools.
Pandey also asked the schools that they should only prescribe the textbooks of National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) in their schools.
“The actions of new minister are very encouraging. He means business and we all hope that the powerful lobby of private schools is put in control. The minister has also announced a capping on the fees charged by the private schools and it remains to be seen, how he implements this,’’ said MPS Bisht, a resident of Raipur road.
Many parents however are sure that the tough talk of the new minister would not have any effect on the powerful private school owners. “Nothing will happen. Give me single example where harsh action against any school is taken. The private schools would continue increasing fees every year push parents to shell out more money in different names and continue to enforce pricy books of private publishers. The talks of minister are hollow; we have heard similar rhetoric in past,’’ said Arti Balodi, a resident of MDDA Kedarpuram.
The President of All Uttarakhand Parents Union (AUPA), Neeraj Singhal said that the state government should implement the private schools regulation authority act to provide teeth to its officers. He said that the draft of the bill is ready; the previous Congress government publically declared that it would table the bill in the assembly but under pressure from the private schools the government buckled.
The education department officials also admit that they lack powers to take action on these schools. “These schools are not affiliated under state board and they get no financial assistance from the state government. The district administration issues No Objection Certificate (NOC) to these schools and it has power to cancel the NOC but this is rarely done,’’ said one of a senior officer of education department.