GUWAHATI, Dec 17 - Expressing concern over the widespread practice of private school managements to increase fees exorbitantly and other anomalous practices, the Guardian Association of Private/Public Undertaking School Students has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter.
In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the association said that non-government schools have regularly been hiking fees without any justification, besides subjecting the students to heavy book pressure. Matters stand worsened due to the apathy of the State government, the education department in particular, it added.
�We have submitted memorandums several times to the authorities concerned. But it is precisely due to the inaction of the authorities such as the education department, SEBA, CBSE, Union Human Resource Development Ministry, etc., that matters have not improved at all. Moreover, the guardians are not allowed to place their grievances before the school managements, and if they are not satisfied with the decisions of the schools, they are compelled to leave the schools,� it said in the memo.
Another anomaly, the association noted, is the lack of similarity in respect of courses and syllabi in the schools from Class I to Class VIII.
�They keep changing and increasing the courses and syllabi every year, compelling the guardians to purchase the same every year. Moreover, the NCERT/SCERT courses are not strictly followed, nor are the courses up to Class VIII scientifically prepared,� it said.
The association added that many schools do not provide any project materials.
The association further said that schools having SEBA or CBSE affiliation from Class IX to Class X are actually running classes from Class I to Class VIII. �The courses and syllabi for these classes have been prepared and introduced by such institutions on their own and vary from institution to institution,� it said.
The association said that most of the city schools have increased the fees by over 20 per cent under different heads, ignoring the opposition from the association.
