Appoint regulatory body to check open ‘loot’ by private schools in the state: Manuke to government

Chandigarh, March 29

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Jagraon MLA  and Deputy Leader of Opposition (Dy LoP) in Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Sarvjit Kaur Manuke came heavily on the subsequent state governments’ non-serious stance about school education, saying it was all set to  go into private hands sooner than later if something was not done at this point in time.

Expressing her grave concern over the mushrooming of private schools in various parts of the city state to the lop-sided policies of the governments, alleging it was a well thought-out design of the government to derail the system.

She further said that the dispensation had failed to provide better facilities and infrastructure in government-run schools, which, she said had led to the sorry state of affairs. The non-serious stance of the government had not only contributed to the steady fall in the student enrolment in government-run schools in the state but had brought the standard of education to the brink, Manuke said.

She alleged that since there was no government regulatory body to put a check on them, they were charging exorbitant fees hiking them every year, she said. She added that the books prescribed by the CBSE and even copies and other stationery items left a big hole in their parents’ pockets, she said.

Through a written communication to the chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state education minister OP Soni, Manuke pointed out how private school managements were indulging in open ‘loot’ with impunity. She said certain privately-run schools in the state had made it obligatory for the parents to send their wards in school van only instead of by other modes of transport citing safety and security reason of their wards under the Safe School Vahan scheme.

The AAP leader said that written instructions in this regard had been issued to the parents, stating that the students not using school vans would not be allowed entry into the school. She said that they had been charging hefty fares for ferrying the students which now stood at Rs 1200 per month as against the previously Rs 500 and Rs 700 only.

Manuke added that under the so-called scheme, which was nothing but a ploy to indulging in open loot by the private school management. Referring to an incident to substantiate her point, she said a student at Bathinda-based private school was not allowed entry in the examination hall for writing his final 10th board paper since he reached the centre late by a few minutes due to late arrival of the school van, which, she said, was a condemnable act.

In her communication, she was categorically critical of the state government for giving a leeway to the private players to fleece the people under the garb of ‘mandatory’ safety and security measures, stating that the parents had been instructed to use school vans only to ferrying their wards to various schools they were studying in. This, she said, was nothing but a money-spinning exercise by the school managements.  

Manuke demanded that the state government should appoint a regulatory body to monitor the private school managements’ dictatorial decisions sooner than later so that they the hassled parents were not allowed to suffer in silence. She said that if the government failed to check the open ‘loot’ by private schools, AAP would be compelled to take to roads along with the affected parents and struggle till the time they didn’t get justice.