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School heads want Education Secy to seek legal opinion before regulating private school fees.
The delegation, headed by HS Mamik, president, Independent Schools’ Association, repeated his request that legal opinion be sought on the comments and objections raised by them on behalf of the private schools in Chandigarh.
A delegation of private school heads met Education Secretary Sarvjit Singh yesterday to discuss the proposal for fee regulation in private schools.
The delegation, headed by HS Mamik, president, Independent Schools’ Association, repeated his request that legal opinion be sought on the comments and objections raised by them on behalf of the private schools in Chandigarh. Earlier, the Education Department had constituted an 11-member panel of school heads to put up the case of private schools before the authorities.
Sources in the know say that the meeting was rocky at best and the school heads had a heated argument with the Education Secretary and their request for legal opinion “did not go down well” with him, who asked them “not to repeat the same thing over and over again”.
Giving information, Mamik said, “We reiterated our stance for a legal opinion in the matter to ensure that whatever decision is taken is in compliance with the Supreme Court directives”.
Mamik added that the delegation also requested the Education Secretary to share the final draft with them and take into consideration their feedback before framing the policy.
“It is better to seek legal opinion and feedback beforehand than facing litigation later on as the department may not be following the apex court’s directions,” said a school head. Education Secretary Sarvjit Singh could not be contacted for comments.
Meanwhile, Nitin Goyal, president, Chandigarh Parents’ Association, met the UT Adviser. “The UT Adviser assured me that parents will be involved in the process of policy making and we will be called for a meeting after the feedback is compiled,” Goyal informed.