Jaipur: The education dept Friday Thursday directed all block education officers in the state to form three-member committees and inspect whether private schools are making unauthorised demands for purchase of books, uniforms, fees, shoes and ties, among other issues. The teams will have to submit their report by April 20.In an order issued by the director secondary education Sitaram Jat said that the dept had received inputs that ‘certain private schools are not fully complying with the guidelines issued earlier.’ The order further mandates constitution of three-member committees, chaired by the chief block education officer to carry out inspections in each block of all private schools in the district before April 15.The inspection teams must submit consolidated report concerning private schools in cases where instances of non-compliance with rules are detected during the inspection. The reports should be submitted by April 20.Parents, however, have alleged that the education department issues such orders but does not follow through in action when it finds private schools violating the norms.“We have been fighting fee hikes for the past eight years, despite orders from the Rajasthan High Court, state govt, district fee regulation committee and district administration. Even after directions at multiple levels, schools continue to raise fees every year, leaving parents with no choice but to pay or risk their children suffering,” said Piyush Goyal, a parent with two children in a private school. Abhishek Jain Bittu, spokesperson of Sanyukta Abhibhavak Sangh, a body of aggrieved parents in the state, said, “Our only demand is that the Fee Act must be implemented and arbitrary practices of private schools must cease. There are several private schools that hike fee every year and parents are forced to pay it.”
