Don’t force students to buy books from specific shops, schools told
Nitish Sharma
Ambala, April 8
The Directorate of Secondary Education has issued an order debarring recognised private schools from compelling students to purchase books, stationery and uniforms from specific shops.
However, the timing of the orders is being questioned as the academic session has already started and a large number of parents have purchased books and other items for their children already.
fix rates of pvt publishers’ books
We have always been of the view that the government should formulate a policy and fix the rates of the books of private publishers. —Kulbhushan Sharma, President, National independent schools alliance
As per the order addressed to the District Education Officers and District Elementary Education Officers in the state, the officials have been asked to direct recognised private schools that as per the Haryana School Education rules, the schools can’t
compel the students to purchase books, workbooks, stationery, shoes, uniform and other items from recommended shops.
In case any complaint is received, then action will be taken as per rules.
Sanjay Sethi, a parent, “A book set of Class VII is being sold for over Rs 6,300. Other stationery items are also being sold separately at higher prices compared to the market. The parents are in no position to raise their voice against the schools as they don’t want to hinder the education of their children and the schools take advantage of that situation. The department also doesn’t act as a number of politicians are running schools in the state. There is no point in issuing the order now when the parents have already bought the books.”
Ajay Gupta, president of the Parents’ Welfare Association, Ambala, said, “The order issued by the directorate is just a formality with no intention to act against the private schools who force parents to approach selected shops in order to reap commissions. The schools get the set of books prepared in such a manner that the entire set is available at specific shops only. All these practices are not possible without the help of officials in the Education Department.”
District Education Officer Suresh Kumar said, “The order has been received on Friday but we had already instructed the Block Education Officers (BEO) to keep a watch and report if they find schools compelling parents to purchase books and uniforms from select shops. We will hold surprise visits from Monday and recommend action if any school is found violating the directions.”
Meanwhile, Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the National Independent Schools Alliance, said, “We have always been of the view that the government should formulate a policy and fix the rates of the books of private publishers. The private publishers’ books have better content and quality compared to NCERT books. Moreover, the session has already started and booksellers have got the stocks with them. Such orders should be issued in January and not after the beginning of the session.”
