CONTROL SCHOOL FEES & UPGRADE GOVT SCHOOLS TO KVS - AIPA WRITES TO PM

ALL INDIA PARENTS ASSOCIATION
Agarwal Bhawan G.T. Road
Tis Hazari, Delhi-110054 (India)
Ph.- 09811101923, 09717278279
07.10.2011

To
Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
7, Race Course Road,
New Delhi-110001

Sub: - NEED OF THE HOUR: a Central Law to check arbitrary fee hike in unaided private schools and Up-grading all Govt. schools to the minimum
level of Central Schools

My Dear Respected Prime Minister,

We have the honor to bring to your kind notice that the common people in this country is unable to obtain quality school education for their wards, because on the one hand, government schools by and large lack basic physical and academic infrastructure and suffer from mismanagement resulting in inferior quality of education; on the other hand, when they turn to unaided private schools offering better quality they are mercilessly exploited through the imposition of arbitrary, unjust and exorbitant fees etc. In other words, the common man is a victim of a situation created by the State.

It is submitted that the Apex Court has time and again affirmed that capitation fee, exorbitant fees, profiteering, commercialization of education and exploitation of parents/students by the unaided private schools are not permissible in law and that the Government, not only has the powers, but also the duty to regulate fees and other charges in these schools to prevent commercialization of education. However, in the absence of a legal framework at the national level, which can control and regulate the unaided private schools in the matter of fees and other charges, the affirmation of the Apex Court remains a pious wish.

Among the states, the only exception is the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009 (In short, Tamil Nadu Act, 2009) but it is limited to the State of Tamil Nadu.

The parents and the students all over the country have been agitating against the Governments’ failure to curb commercialization of education in unaided private schools. The need of the hour is to have a central law to regulate fees and other charges in these unaided private schools all over the country, may be, on the lines of the Tamil Nadu Act, 2009.

It is submitted that after the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Order of 11.05.2010 dismissing Special Leave Petitions of several Unaided Private Schools of the State of Tamil Nadu challenging the Madras High Court Judgment of 09.04.2010 upholding the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009 and The Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Rules, 2009, the Central Government should have brought a national law immediately on the lines of Tamil Nadu Act, 2009 to protect the hapless parents and students from such exploitation. However, the Central Government has not done any thing so far in this regard.

All India Parents Association (AIPA) has since long been demanding a Central Law to deal with the issue of commercialization in unaided private school.

Secondly, the standard of education in state government schools all over the country is, by and large, of inferior quality with the exceptions of Central Schools, such as the KVS, Navodaya Schools, Sainik Schools etc. The expenditure per child in ordinary government school is extremely low in comparison to what is spent in Central Schools. Lack of physical and academic infrastructure is a common feature in the ordinary government-run schools.

Poor administration and management ensures that no education worth the name takes place in these schools. It is interesting to note, that even the teachers in these schools, do not send their own children to these schools as they are convinced that these schools are inferior.

The prevailing discriminatory system of public education goes contrary to the constitutional philosophy of equality, social justice and right to good quality education. There is urgent need to undo this discriminatory system of public education system. The only solution is that all government-run schools all over the country should be upgraded to the minimum level of Central Schools.

In order of highlight our aforementioned demands, we are holding AAM ADMI DHARNA from 10 am to 1 pm at Rajghat on Sunday October 09, 2011. We therefore request you to kindly take immediate steps to do justice to the children of this country.

With regards,


Ashok Agarwal, Advocate
National President, AIPA
M-09811101923