Centre readies plan to check offending schools

Updated on: Friday, February 03, 2012

School education in India has undergone a tremendous transformation. But the one aspect where change is felt the most has been in the fact that paying for school now occupies a thick slice in the family budget pie, something that earlier went blissfully unnoticed.

The soaring fees, the rise of private schools, the manner in which school admission processes are designed, the overt demand made for donations, the campus advertisements that lure parents, and the overarching truth that education has been reduced to a business for many, has forced the government to design an act to check and punish unfair practices in the trade called school education.

So a school will invite action for discriminating against children on the basis of religion, caste, creed or gender, or forcing children to speak in English and neglecting the mother tongue or resorting to corporal punishment, or pressurising kids with heavy curriculum load of a higher class.

The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), which met in the national capital last week, has finalised its decision to draft ‘The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Elementary, Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools Bill’, which will keep a vigil on the manner in which schools function.

BLACK MARKS GALORE

• Demanding donations for a seat

• Overcharging for school prospectus and other admission-related material

• School teachers taking private tuition

• Not refunding fees

• Not sticking to the syllabi

• Engaging untrained teachers

‘Erring’ schools may be fined up to 50 lakh

The CABE has decided to prepare legislation to keep a check on schools. The legislation would provide for criminal prosecution and civil penalties and state education tribunals will be set up to monitor the adherence of the provisions of this act.

Schooling was mostly gratis, a service largely provided by the government; but today it won’t be wrong to say that the private sector has shown an increasing interest in this space. Close to 40% of Indian schools are private institutes; some aided, most unaided. The idea is not to police schools, said a CABE member. “The inherent rationale of the legislation would be to promote transparency through mandatory disclosure in the prospectus and the website, and provide adequate and accessible recourse for remedial action arising out of non-adherence of self-disclosed details and norms,” said the CABE note.

The proposal provides for imposition of monetary penalties of up to Rs 50 lakh for violation of provisions of various clauses that are declared. Offences are proposed to be tried by a court not below that of a metropolitan magistrate or a judicial magistrate first class. All offences, except those concerning the demand of capitation fee, are proposed to be made non-cognisable offences, read the CABE note.

Common Offences

• Non-disclosure of seats available

• Allowing the sale of gutka, tobacco and junk food inside or around the school campus

• Admission through non-transparent means

• Level of education services not matching with what is promised or disclosed in the brochure

• Placing misleading advertisements in the media

• Misleading advertisements that exaggerate the performance of students in examinations

• Underpaying staff

• Withholding the certificates or documents of students who wish to join another school

Centre readies plan to check offending schools

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