Abrar Mattoo
SRINAGAR, Apr 28: Justice (Retd.) Sunil Hali, Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Committee for Fixation, Determination and Regulation of Fee of Private Schools said that rather than acting arbitrarily and taking the law into their own hands, both parents and private schools should approach the committee for the redressal of their genuine demands.
“We have realized that both parents and the private schools take the law in their own hands and act arbitrarily, which often results in undue conflict. We are here to resolve the genuine grievances of all parties. If a school owner is not satisfied with the fixed fee for his respective school, he or she should approach us, and after due review, it is our mandate to determine whether his claim is correct. Acting arbitrarily and hiking fees without our knowledge is a crime which will be punished in accordance with the rules,” Justice Hali commented, in an exclusive interview to Kashmir Despatch.
Mr. Hali also encouraged the parents that rather than coming out to the media and approaching other indirect channels, they should take the direct route and approach the Fee Fixation Committee with their respective grievances, if any, against the private schools.
While commenting on the trend of under-table transactions that happen between the parents and the schools in the name of admission fees, Mr. Hali said that the committee is aware that such kind of illegal transactions take place, but these transactions are conducted off the record in the schools. “Additionally,” Mr. Hali continued, “We have not received any complaint from anyone thus far, therefore, without substantial evidence or proof, we cannot take any action against any private school because we do not know whom to hold accountable.”
The Fee Fixation Committee approves the fee for private schools based on their individual performances in set parameters such as infrastructure, parent-teacher ratio, extracurricular activities etcetera. However, Mr. Hali says that one of the major predicaments that the committee faces is how to tackle those schools which are charging a fee which is double, or sometimes, triple, in comparison to the institutions with similar infrastructure and performance on other parameters.
“Since the FFRC Act does not provide the provision in which to rationalize the school fees in private schools in accordance to the performance of the individual schools on the set parameters. We are bound to review the suggested fee structure by the individual schools and this is what gives rise to this situation where some schools charge double the fees and some with similar infrastructure charge half the fee,” Mr. Hali added further.
While commenting on the protest by certain factions over the introduction of NCERT syllabus books in all schools, Mr. Hali said that all schools will have to teach only the prescribed books, and if any parent is interested in furthering the knowledge of his child, he/she is free to buy the books published by different publishers, but the schools cannot teach any manner of published material other than NCERT textbooks.
In a message to the general public, Mr. Hali said that the committee is “there to address the grievances of both parents and school children, and that all parties should approach the committee in all matters.”
