“Not Soft warnings but exemplary actions against the accused can rectify the wrongs committed by private schools randomly for years together.”
With most of the private schools devising and implementing new cash fleecing practices under “Developmental Fee” without any consent from either the School Education Department or the J&K Fee Fixation & Regulation Committee (J&K FFRC) the notices splashed to some private schools for institutionalising either developmental fee or enforcing admission test practices during the winter vacation periods haven’t given parents any satisfaction due to laxity shown in investigations and actions by both the School Education Directorate and as well as J&K Fee Fixation & Regulation Committee (J&K FFRC). Allegations are galore that though both the School Education Directorate Kashmir and as well as J&K Fee Fixation & Regulation Committee (J&K FFRC) seek explanations from private school accused of charging “development Fee” and conducting admission tests for both the students and as well as parents for admissions to even nursery classes but so for exemplary punishment has not been given to even a single private school and consequently noticed have been reduced to just a soft warnings. Not Soft warnings but exemplary actions against the accused can rectify the wrongs committed by private schools randomly for years together. Laws have been defined to empower prescribed authorities for carrying out investigations and punishing the guilty as per law but not for issuing soft notices to give the accused repeated opportunities to violate the law with impunity again and again, month after month and year after year. As the Directorate Of School Education Kashmir has splashed notices to R P School Nagabal and Doon International School HMT Srinagar for demanding “developmental fee” from the students and J&K Fee Fixation Of Regulation Committee (J&K FFRC) to R P School HMT Srinagar, the follow up action which authorities don’t initiate usually in such cases could be matter of satisfaction for the aggrieved students and as well as the parents.
“The spirits of accountability necessitate a total ban on admissions from Ist Primary to Class 12 till the declaration of the result of final examinations and also a thorough investigation of the recent public complaints about the institutionalisation of “developmental fee” for the purposes of punishment to guilty in a given timeline. Bet it the case of institutionalising “developmental fee” or devising admission tests for admissions to lower primary classes,the spirits of accountability demand exemplary punishments to the guilty on the basis of impartial investigations in pursuit of a broad objective of institutionalising accountability in Private Schools across Jammu & Kashmir.”
While schools are yet to re-open after long winter break of two and a half months and final examinations are yet to be conducted, the private schools have surprisingly launched the process for admissions which should begin only after the declaration of the results of the final examinations probably in the months of April and May. The spirits of accountability necessitate a total ban on admissions from Ist Primary to Class 12 till the declaration of the result of final examinations and also a thorough investigation of the recent public complaints about the institutionalisation of “developmental fee” for the purposes of punishment to guilty in a given timeline. Bet it the case of institutionalising “developmental fee” or devising admission tests for admissions to lower primary classes,the spirits of accountability demand exemplary punishments to the guilty on the basis of impartial investigations in pursuit of a broad objective of institutionalising accountability in Private Schools across Jammu & Kashmir.
