All School Parents' Association amps up its efforts to spread information among parents as UP government unveils the new fee-regulation bill.
In an attempt to raise awareness among school parents of Ghaziabad, members of parents’ associations have resorted to putting up signboards in public places in the city. These signboards, which are being put up by All School Parents' Association (ASPA) of Ghaziabad, contain information regarding basic rights of parents, court rulings, policies of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS).
On being asked about the purpose of these boards, members said that apart from taking up issues with the authorities, it is also important to spread awareness among parents. They feel the information disseminated via these signboards would result in more parents joining the movement against schools trying to coerce money out of parents under various pretexts.
“We have installed these boards in public places and road medians, with slow moving traffic, for more visibility. We have planned to put up around 250 such boards throughout the city, and the first lot has just been installed in areas of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara. And we will be spreading our coverage to other parts of the city soon,” said Shivani Jain, ASPA president.
Interestingly, the boards are not being put in places around schools which are frequented by parents. To this, Jain said that putting these boards directly near schools also has a high chance of them being taken down by the school authorities immediately.
School parents and their associations have been holding protests and demonstrations against the high-handedness of private schools, who allegedly have been charging high fees under unexplained heads, such as annual and development charges and others. These protests had also raised demands for implementation of stringent laws and regulations from the UP government.
The state department of secondary education yesterday released a draft of the Uttar Pradesh Self-Financed Independent Schools (Regulation of Fees) Bill 2017 on its website. The department has invited comments and suggestion regarding the bill. The suggestions can be submitted via mails at desecedu@gmail.com before December 22, 6 pm.
