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Parents complaints and awareness leads to churn in Mysuru education department
Under pressure from parents and activists, the Mysuru education department has come up with a slew of initiatives including holding an education Adalat every month, addressing issues and setting up an alternative education district Hunsur.
There is a lot of churning going on in education set up in Mysuru. It has come to such a head that it is proposed to hold an Education Adalat every month by the department of public instruction, Mysuru, to hear public grievances about school-related issues. It is decided that ZP CEO PA Gopal will be helming the meet.
At a meeting convened at Chamundi Vihar Stadium premises, parents complained on pretty much everything under the sun including RTE admissions, fee structure and various private aided and unaided schools. Then social activists, including Venugopal and Narasimha who are fighting for the cause, alleged that many schools across the city are misleading the people with false promises and also taking hefty fees.
Narasimha pointed out to a now familiar rant across the country, "Many private schools are pressuring parents to buy books and bags. A pair of socks costing Rs 100 or even less in the market is charged Rs 200. The books and bags given in these schools are costlier when compare to market rates. If parents fail to buy these books and bags, the school authorities threaten to cancel the admission for their wards. Fearing the consequences, parents have no option but to pay up for the books and bags. The education department should call for a meeting with parents and take stringent action against schools involved in such practices."
It is noteworthy that a lot of parents and parent bodies have protested against these practices in Maharashtra and the NCR already. He also alleged that this year, school managements have enhanced fees irrationally – what was Rs 8,000 last year was enhanced to Rs 20,000, and what was Rs 20,000 was enhanced to Rs 50,000.
As a viable solution, Gopal called upon DDPI Basappa to invite school heads and warn them that criminal cases will be filed against those found violating rules and regulations. He also said stringent action will be initiated against BEOs who did not take action against schools violating rules. Basappa said the Education Adalat will start in June and be held in the last week of every month.
Meanwhile, due to a rapid increase in the number of schools in Mysuru district, Gopal sent a request to the government for one more education district in Mysuru district, on the lines of Belagavi, which has two education districts, Belagavi and Chikkodi. If all goes as per plan, Hunsur will be an education district from the next academic year.
Gopal shared, "Every year, the number of schools in the district is increasing, so we have come up with a proposal for one more education district in Mysuru to handle things systematically. Formalities and complaints can be addressed immediately. The proposal is at the government level and if everything goes well, we may get Hunsur Education District functioning from 2017-18."
Gopal also called upon parents to give importance to government schools. "The quality of education is very good in government schools. My daughter too studied in a government school and is now studying BSc in Maharani's College in Mysuru," he said.
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