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| Pvt Schools Continue To Call Shots | | | The Jammu and Kashmir Government closing down all the educational institutions following the surge in COVID-19 cases has once again left the parents in lurch.
Soon after the educational institutions had reopened in Jammu region nearly after a year-long break in January this year, parents were made to buy the uniforms, books and pay charges on one or other pretext.
Now, the schools are closed again and the charges which the parents had paid won’t be returned as the recent order issued by the Director School Education Jammu (DSEJ) is silent on the issue.
The order stated in view of closure of schools due to spike in Covid-19 cases, the demand of annual charges/admission fee etc is no justified and is in contravention to the instruction of the administrative department on the subject. “The instructions issued by department vide circular number 01-Edu of 2020 dated 14/5/2020 had allowed the private schools to charge only tuition fee on monthly basis and prohibited them from charging any fee from the students,” the order states.
Experts and medicos have predicted that the second Covid wave can last longer than the first wave so there is a bleak possibility about educational institutions reopening soon. The government needs to intervene and direct the educational institutions to adjust the charges that have been collected by these schools as advance fee for the ongoing session. If the Education Department remains silent on the charges paid by the parents it would provide an opportunity to these schools to keep the extra money they have received during the past few months. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year the private schools have been in the news for wrong reasons. These institutions charged transport fee without providing bus service to the students for many months. There were even reports that students were forced to attend online classes in proper uniforms. After shifting to the online mode many teachers were sacked despite these institutions collecting full tuition fee from the students.
In spite of J&K’s transition into a union territory, the private schools are calling the shots and have succeeded in ensuring that their writ prevails. These schools need to be reigned in and have to be told in clear terms that the COVID-19 has played havoc with the economy and their tactics to squeeze the parents are unjustified. Managements of these schools should realize that education is not only about minting money. It’s also about facilitating the growth of children and helping them become the torchbearers as they are our future. |
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