The joint director of education, Meerut region, has instructed private schools to stop forcing students to purchase books, stationery and uniforms from them.
The joint director of education, Meerut region, has instructed private schools to stop forcing students to purchase books, stationery and uniforms from them. The directive applies to schools affiliated with both Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE).
The joint director's move came after receiving numerous complaints against schools pressurising students to buy books, notebooks and uniforms only from the outlets referred by the schools.“schools in his locality don’t even allow using the previous year's books that a younger sibling can borrow," said Jay Jain, a resident of Greater Noida West.
Dr Mahendra Dev, joint director of education, in his letter to the school principals, said that this is against the terms and conditions of the No Objection Certificate (NOC). "Strict action would be taken against any school violating the terms and conditions of the NOC," he added.
Nishant Sharma, principal of a Ghaziabad school, has welcomed the move. “Students and parents should have the liberty of purchasing books and uniforms from outlets of their choice," said Sharma. "I have adhered to this philosophy despite parents complaining about a shortage of NCERT books in the market."
He said parents, instead of staging protests, should look for other schools for their wards if facing such problems.