Authorities crack whip on private schools in Punjab, parents elated

Shivani Bhakoo

Ludhiana, April 13

It seems the long-pending demand of parents who felt “exploited” at the hands of private schools is heard at last. The Chief Minister has issued strict guidelines to the private schools to display the list of minimum three book/uniform shops in towns, which need to be shared with District Education Officers (DEOs) also.

Hailing the directives, many parents have expressed happiness that at last the harassment of parents will be curbed to an extent now. One of the parents, whose child studies at a leading school in BRS Nagar, said the school had taken a house on rent from where books were given to students.

The directives

The new directives issued by the state government are aimed at allowing parents of students to have an option for buying books from any prescribed shop in the vicinity of their place of residence. Notably, earlier the parents were unduly harassed by private school managements to buy books from a particular shop. The orders have also mentioned that schools cannot force the parents to buy books or uniforms from a particular shop.

“Whether we have the set of books or not, it was mandatory to purchase a new set each year. We had no choice. Now, financial burden on parents should be decreased. The authorities concerned must keep a tab on the the functioning of schools,” said the parent, who had lodged a complaint against high-handedness of the school authorities in the past also.

The new directions are aimed at allowing the parents to have an option for buying books from any prescribed shop in the vicinity of their place of residence. Notably, earlier the parents of students were unduly harassed by school managements to buy books from a particular shop. The orders have also mentioned that schools cannot force the parents to buy books or uniforms from a particular shop.

The move has not gone well with many schools. They feel that earlier also many such orders were issued but in the absence of strict appliance, these would not be successful.

“We are ready to adhere to the orders, provided all schools should follow the same. Many schools will find one way or another to fleece the parents due to the lenient approach of the authorities concerned.