The main agenda was to speak out against the arbitrariness of fee hikes and a faulty state fee-regulatory bill.
Parents from all over Ghaziabad and their representative associations organised a huge protest today against the arbitrariness of fee hikes in private schools and a faulty state fee-regulatory bill. They also raised the demand for a centralised fee bill to be equally applied in all states.
The protest was part of a larger nationwide protest, and more than 150 associations from various states took part from their respective areas.
The main agenda was to demand more proactive central intervention in matters of fee regulation. Currently, a few states have a state fee bill, but others, such as Uttar Pradesh, are struggling to put one in place.
Neeraj Bhatnagar, spokesperson of Ghaziabad Parents’ Association, said separate demands have been raised from the district administration, the state government and the central government. “We have raised demands for the review and proper application of the conditions of all the NOCs issued to schools. We have asked the state government to review the proposed fee regulatory bill, as it is heavily biased towards schools. We also raised a demand for a centralised fee regulatory bill from the centre that can be applied in all the states,” he explained.
Similar demands were raised by members of other parents' associations who took part in the protests. Speaking to City Spidey, Shivani Jain, president of All School Parents’ Association, lashed out, “The government has failed parents on many levels. We have been striving for a state fee regulatory bill since April last year, and we went to Lucknow thrice for this. But when the draft of the proposed bill was placed before the public, the provisions were exactly opposite to the demands of the parents. The important points that we had discussed in the meetings with officials were not included in the draft bill — it is entirely in favour of private schools.”
Letters addressed to the district administration, and the state and the central governments were handed over to the Ghaziabad district administration.
