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Kirron Kher asks for HRD minister’s personal attention for the Chandigarh private schools
In order to regulate the process of the new fees mechanism policy, the MP of Chandigarh, Kirron Kher asks for HRD minister’s personal intervention.
As the Chandigarh Administration's process to regulate fees in the private schools of the city is going on, MP Kirron Kher wrote a letter to the Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, urging her to look into the process personally and direct the officials to prioritise the issue in order to put an end to the exploitation by the private school management.
The letter reads, “A large section of my constituency is aggrieved by exploitation by private schools. They have complained that these schools are charging exorbitant fees as well as other funds, which are beyond the capacity of many parents. Further, it has been brought to my notice that school authorities compel them to purchase uniforms, books and other school materials from a particular shop or vendor, who fleeces them by charging rates higher than those prevailing in the market.”
“These schools have become business establishments rather than temples of learning. It is the persistent demand of people to formulate a policy to regulate these private schools in order to check exploitation/harassment faced by them,” the letter further reads.
Kirron wrote that “this sensitive issue merits consideration”.
The Supreme Court judgment states, “In the case of unaided private schools, maximum autonomy has to be with the school management with regard to its administration, including the right of appointment, disciplinary powers, admission of students and the fees to be charged.”
Meanwhile, HS Mamik, president, Independent Schools Association, Chandigarh, said in a statement that the matter had already been settled by the 11-judge constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court and the autonomy to determine fees and other norms at private unaided schools resided with the school managements only. “I don’t know if she (MP Kirron Kher) is aware of the Supreme Court judgment. If she had read it, she would have a different view on this issue,” Mamik said.
Reports about schools who have been dominating the parents with their fees structure are flooding in continuously.