Karnataka private schools demand regulatory mechanism for truant parents

Following the recent series of protests staged by several parents the private school management representatives demanded that a policy should be framed.
Image used for representational purpose
Image used for representational purpose

BENGALURU: Private schools operating in the state, irrespective of board affiliation have demanded the state government to frame a policy to regulate parents.
Following the recent series of protests staged by several parents, where they raised allegations against the school managements of harassment, the private school management representatives demanded that a policy should be framed.

Addressing a joint press conference on Friday, where representatives of private schools affiliated to state board, CBSE and ICSE, said, “We are going through this since several years. Sometimes, a parent agrees to pay the fee prescribed and get admission at the school and later raises objection and refuses to pay the fee. There should be some mechanism to regulate such parents.”

“We have even observed that such parents are meeting the Chief Minister in Janata Darshana and misleading the Chief Minster saying that they were harassed by school managements. In such cases, we request him to hear out school managements also,” they said.

Meanwhile,  the representatives of private school managements announced that they will frame self-regulatory mechanism for private schools and in case, if any school violates the same, the regulatory body itself will file a complaint against their member school.

D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the Associated  Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said, “The regulatory body would look into various issues such as exorbitant fee hikes, charging excess fee up to `50,000 for RTE kids, and refusing to implement Kannada.”

He also said that the association members themselves will lodge a complaint with the officials of the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) against erring school managements. “In many instances, parents do not come forward to lodge complaints as they feel that their child will be targeted. So, this move is to ensure that complaints reach the education department,” a school management member said.

VRN Reddy, President of Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA), added that there is a need to set up a nodal officer in the state who can address the grievances of private school managements.  

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