Gzb parents to protest fee regulatory Bill with various parents' associations

Parents of schoolchildren in Ghaziabad are set to take part in a joint meeting with parents’ associations from across states over the unregulated hiking of fees by private schools. The meeting is set to take place tomorrow at Rajendra Bhavan, ITO, in Delhi. Twenty-two parents’ associations and nine NGOs from across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana are to take part.

The participation of Ghaziabad parents comes after the Uttar Pradesh government proposed a fee regulatory Bill that lets private schools increase fees at will. Dissatisfied parents have said they are set to raise demands for a centralised regulation of fees by the government of India.

Speaking to City Spidey, Shivani Jain, president of All School Parents Association (ASPA) in Ghaziabad, said that parents were being harassed due to the gap between the regulation of the state and the centre. “Despite our protests, the UP government came up with a Bill that favours schools and not parents. It is the same in many other states. In such a situation, we are planning to raise demands for the centre to step in,” Jain added.

Similar views were shared by Narendra Munjal, president of DAV Sector 14 parents association based in Faridabad. “The Haryana School Education Act, along with its provisions for fee regulation, has failed parents. Schools have commercialised education and coerce money from parents on various pretexts. The fact the state governments have failed to solve the problem has worsened the situation for us,” Munjal added.

The UP government’s recent proposal of the fee regulatory Bill has been met with protests from parent circles and criticised for inclined towards private schools.

“We have filed our objections against the Bill, but there is little hope that our pleas will be heard,” said Jain, from ASPA.