Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Monday expressed concern over the rampant profiteering by private schools in the name of fees, asking action against such errant schools extorting money from gullible parents.
This is a shameful conduct and it is mortifying to know that it is our educational institutions which are resorting to it, said the party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar while taking strong exception to the notification send by number of private schools to parents asking for one year of bus fees in advance and buying of books, and uniforms from particular vendors only.
“With private schools largely operating in a zone of no-accountability, the parents are left with no option but to succumb to this wanton bullying by the privately run educational institutions. These institutions seem to have taken parents hostage by dubiously playing on their fears for their children’s education,” he said.
How can these privately run schools be so impervious to the economic fallout the pandemic had on the financial conditions of the people, he questioned adding, “Ideally, these schools should have been mindful of the prevailing economic circumstances. These institutions should have, in a spirit of mutual empathy, worked with the parents to fix a mutually agreed amount of fees. In wake of the schools turning blind eye to the miseries of people, it is for the government to crack whip and take strong action against such errant Schools. Such unruly and illegal practices beg explanation from these unruly schools.”
Asking the administration to regularise fee structure of privately run schools, Imran said, “We have received numerous calls from distressed parents that private schools are looting parents in the name of collecting fees. I hope the government will come up with appropriate guidelines on fee structure and also make public contact numbers to entertain calls from distressed parents and students,” he said.
