In an effort to put reins on the very high and ever increasing fees of the private schools, the State Government is planning to fix the fees.
The Government wants that the schools should charge not more than Rs 15000 per year from the students of Class I to V. Similarly for classes VIII to IX the schools should charge maximum fees of Rs 20000 while for classes IX to XII the maximum fee is kept at Rs 30000 per year. Informing about the plan the education minister Arvind Pandey told newsmen at his Vidhan Sabha office on Monday that the government mulling over many proposals to give relief to general public.
He appealed the private schools to cooperate with the State Government in this endeavour. In another important decision the minister said that the Government would ensure that only NCERT books are recommended by all private schools from next year.
He also informed that the State Government would soon start Akshay Patra Yojna (APY) to serve Mid Day Meal (MDM) in the Government schools of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts. “Today the District Magistrates of these districts have been asked to select a suitable piece of land for establishment of a centralized kitchen in their districts. These kitchens would be located in such a way that the hot MDM is served to the schools located in a radius of 50 kms,’’ he said.
The minister informed that he has asked the officials to ensure that the syllabus of different classes is not changed for at least five years. It would save money on printing of books every year. Expressing his Government’s resolve to bring marked changes in school education, Pandey said that has decided that from next session Science subject is taught in English subject. For it the syllabus and books would be translated in English language and teachers would be given training, he informed. Making an appeal to the elected representatives, the minister requested all MlAs to donate at least 15 percent of their local area development fund for betterment of schools located in their areas.
Pandey said that the Government is planning to close the schools with very less student enrolment and set up a residential school in every block for the benefit of poor. The minister also said that he has directed senior officers of the department to directly monitor one district and ensure marked improvement in academic and other activities of the schools of that district.