Government won’t rush water bill but okays school fee one

Mumbai: The cabinet on Monday gave its nod for the Maharashtra Educational Institution (Regulation of Collection of Fee) bill to be introduced in the ongoing budget session for discussions and passage.The education minister Rajendra Darda mooted the bill which if passed in both the Houses of the state legislature, would allow the government to determine the upper limit of the fees charges for school educations across the state and central boards in both aided and private institutions.

The act was essential following uproar among parents complaining against ad hoc fee hikes in private institutions. Pressures from various non-government organisations and education forums saw the government placing the draft proposal for public debate seeking suggestions on fee regulations. Sources indicated that the government will have to set in place a monitoring body to determine what constitutes the upper limit in the fee structures.

In another significant development the cabinet decided not to rush the controversial water bill following strong protests within the Congress. The cabinet after debating the issue took the view that the bill which has been hurriedly cleared in the state assembly needs to be further discussed. The bill which allows irrigation water to be diverted for industries will be referred to the joint select committee.

Highly placed sources in the government revealed to DNA, “The irrigation minister Sunil Tatkare had pressed for the passage of the bill in state council where it was listed for discussion on Monday. However, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan asserted that it would be unfair to push the bill without consensus within the Democratic Front government.” The Congress also elicited support from the opposition to stall the water bill.

The development in Jaitapur that led to violence and police lathi charge saw the cabinet ministers locked in heated arguments.The industries minister Narayan Rane, according to sources is highly perturbed with the development as it would give mileage to the Shiv Sena which is leading the anti-nuclear power project agitation in Jaitapur.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_government-wont-rush-water-bill-but-okays-school-fee-one_1533494

New Act to regulate private school fees - The Times of India

HYDERABAD: The state government has decided to come out with a new Act that would prevent private schools from increasing their fees every academic year. K Parthasarathi, minister for secondary education , announced on Thursday that following the example of Tamil Nadu, the state government was thinking of enacting an Act that would regulate the fees in private institutions in the state.

The Act will also lay out rules that will have to be followed by the secondary education department while granting recognition to private schools. The state's initiative for the new Act is part of the mandate of the Right to Education (RTE) Act that stipulates new legislation to control private schools. Also, a high court order issued in 2010 had directed the department to come up with fresh rules of fee regulation.

The government had a year ago issued an order (GO Ms No: 91) regulating the fee structure. However, private schools secured the high court stay on the GO. The court, however, in August last year directed the school education department to form new rules from 2011-12 academic year.

NO MORE FEE WOES
Toeing the example of Tamil Nadu, AP wants to enact a new Act to regulate fees in private schools The new Act will lay down rules for recognition of schools too AP's initiative is part of the mandate of the Right to Education Act Last year, AP tried to regulate the fees, but school managements secured a stay from the HC The court asked the state to form new rules from the 2011-12 academic year Child rights NGOs want the new rules to be enforced across the board, including corporate and international schools


Parents welcome govt's move to check fee hike
Hyderabad: The government's move to come out with a new Act to prevent private schools from increasing fees every academic year, has brought new hope to parents wary of the annual hike.

"The court had directed the school education department to come out with new rules as the old GO was issued in a hurry and had several flaws. If the government is planning to come out with new regulations before the commencement of the next academic year, many parents will be relieved," said Kamal Malliramani, member, Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA). According to HSPA records, several city schools have already hiked their fee structure by 10 per cent to 50 per cent for the coming academic year. "If a new legislation is put in place, there will be some amount of fear among private schools and unjustified fee-hike might stop," said Malliramani.

HSPA said the state government should force the schools to make their fee structure a public document like in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, private school managements said that they would welcome the move only if fee regulation is introduced across the board. "No schools including international and corporate schools should be exempted from regulation," said Srinivas Reddy, convener, Recognised Schools' Managements' Association.

Some child rights NGOs, however, said the government should also introduce provisions regulating the salaries of teachers in the new Act. "The Act should be aimed at regulating private schools and not just focus on fee structure," said Achuyta Rao, president, child rights NGO, Bala Sangham .

New Act to regulate private school fees - The Times of India

INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE

By  Parents and Teachers

Against Corruption and Exploitation in Education

From 13 April, 11.00 am onwards, at Azaad Maidan, Mumbai.

Inspite of laws, court orders, using false assurances, the Govt. has colluded with the unaided schools lobby and allowed unscrupulous exploitation of parents & teachers. While fees are hiked in the name of teachers salaries, whereas they are not being paid their legitimate dues. Hence, we the parents and teachers have come together to expose and resist the exploitation.

Parents have been continuously complaining, including through our organization Forum for Fairness in Education an NGO, over the last decade and have sought and often got support of the judiciary.  Yet the private unaided school management lobby, which manages the Govt. (e. g. the appointment of Kumud Bansal as Chairperson of the Committee) has thrown out of the window the law of land, namely Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act-1987 and also all other related Acts, Rules including Secondary School Code.

 

Over the last three years, like several other scams, the shamelessness has spiked to unbearable levels. The Govt. has kept appearances by issuing GRs only to be rightly thrown away by Courts as, they have no legislative backing. It is obvious from the behaviour of the Govt. that school managements have hiked fees more than 150% in the last three years. The justifications for the increase in tuition fees have been to pay salaries & arrears as per the VI Pay Commission to teachers. But most of the teachers have not been paid the salaries as per the norms, inspite of up to 150% increase in the school fees, which should much more than cover the salaries.  Therefore, we demand:

1.     Limit (ceiling) on fee hike and permit fee hike only once in 3 years.

2.     Refund of fees, if there is any element of profiteering.

3.     Enforce Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act-1987, with well defined legitimate fees. covering VI Pay salaries.

4.     Review Fee structure from 2008 onwards, of all private schools charging more than Rs. 6000/- per year and refund of all capitation fees collected till date. 

5.     Immediate implementation of VI Pay Commission & arrears with transparent pay-fixation.

6.     Protect teachers against victimization, harassment, hire & fire policy as, teachers respectability is the key to students’ character building.

7.     Transparency in Service condition including issuing of copy of the service book and monthly detailed salary to the teachers. Payment of PF and Gratuity as per the Govt. norms.

8.     Penalize extortions, in the name of admission fee (up to 2 lakhs), Security Deposit (up to 2.5 lakhs), Imprest Money (up to 1 lakh), Activity fee (up to 30000 per activity). School Essentials (up to Rs. 50000), Building Fund (up to Rs. 50000), Admission Forms (up to Rs. 8000) etc. Also Stop compulsory purchase of uniforms, books, stationery, school essentials, and worksheets leading to exploitation.

9.     Enforce truly democratically elected PTA representatives in place of sham PTAs and to maintain transparency in the functioning of PTA.

10.Stop interviews for Pre-Primary or Primary admissions, as per RTE Act. Also enforce RTE Act, including 25% reservation for the weaker & disadvantaged group of children.

11.Cover unaided schools under RTI and enforce web-publishing of accounts and facilities including affiliation details of all private schools.

12.Collection of all fees should be in the name of school only and official receipt/s must be issued for all payments.

THE CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION IN EDUCATION

Contact: Jayant Jain – 9323131300; Raju Tirmalle – 9821256607; Sheila D’mello – 9820979079; Sunita Srivastava – 9821534545; Rajiv Patel – 9833733365; Sandeep Chavan - 9422081894

Citizen manifesto asks for fee-less schools in return for votes

CHENNAI: Activists demanded that free and quality education and healthcare be made the right of every citizen on Thursday. Releasing the citizen manifesto, members of the State Platform for Common School Syllabus (SPCSS) declared that people would vote for the party that includes these demands in their election manifesto and has the political will to implement it. 

The manifesto demanded free, compulsory and quality education for all from kindergarten to postgraduation. The SPCSS called for feeless' schools as recommended by the Kothari Commission, but till that goal is achieved it demanded that the party that wins the election prohibit the commercialisation of education. The manifesto suggested that fees of all students studying in the schools of an educational district be collected through a bank and then transferred to the accounts of the respective school. Teacher salaries should also be transferred in this manner. "This will reduce the interaction of the parents with the schools and prevent conflicts," the manifesto said. 

When the government made public the fee structures of individual schools as determined by the fee committee, parents told schools saying that they would only pay this fees and not the amounts asked by school managements. But now with the academic year coming to a close, some schools are coercing parents into paying the fee demanded by them by threatening that they will not allow their children to write the annual exam. "Parents will vote for the political party that assures them that it would implement the recommendations of the fee committee," said S Arumainathan, president, Tamil Nadu Federation of Students-Parents Welfare Associations. 

"It is our Constitutional right to not just have an animal survival, but to live life with dignity. To live a life of dignity and to improve their lifestyle people should be able to spend on things like visiting historical places with the family, acquiring knowledge by purchasing books and having a library. But today a person with earning capacity is gauged by the amount of money he is able to spend on quality education and healthcare, both of which should be provided free of cost by the government," said general secretary of the SPCSS Prince Gajendra Babu. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Citizen-manifesto-asks-for-fee-less-schools-in-return-for-votes/articleshow/7907698.cms

Enrolment in primary schools plunges 2.6 million in 2 years

MUMBAI: It is a lesson in misplaced enthusiasm. While the Centre has been busy tom-tomming its efforts to send more children to school, enrolment in primary classes across the country has, in actuality, dropped since 2007. Between 2008-09 and 2009-10, enrolment in classes I to IV in Indian schools dropped by over 2.6 million.

The biggest setback was witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, where admissions plummeted by over a million in the last two years, according to the latest data released by the ministry of human resource development.

The slide in national figures began between 2007-08 and 2008-09 and became, ironically, steeper between 2008-09 and 2009-10, when the Centre cleared the Right to Education Act making education a fundamental right.

After years of ignoring the worrying statistics, the central government has finally decided to wake up and take action. It recently pulled up state governments and demanded reasons for the decline in numbers.

Most large Indian states, including Maharashtra, have seen student numbers come down in classes I to V, though Assam has been one of the biggest offenders.

"This definitely cannot be just a demographic change. In fact, in Uttar Pradesh, enrolment has come down in just about seven to eight districts. The state government has been alerted and it is investigating what went wrong," said R Govinda, vice chancellor of the National University of Education Planning and Administration. Experts are at a loss to accurately explain the drop in enrolment in northern states, where birth rates have essentially remained the same. In some southern states, where population planners had predicted a slowdown in birth rate, primary school enrolments have unsurprisingly declined.

In other states like Delhi, Tamil Nadu and in the northeast, the figures have begun to plateau. In Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam, the struggle stems from ground-level problems like data keeping, children moving out, introduction of new schools and rationalization of data, said Madhav Chavan, the founder of educational non-profit group Pratham.

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Enrolment-in-primary-schools-plunges-26-million-in-2-years/articleshow/7749672.cms

Pvt schools plan summer classes to retain students

HYDERABAD: Bad news for school students this year. Several state board schools in the city have opted for shorter summer vacations by beginning classes for the coming academic year soon after the annual examinations end in April. 

So, summer vacations that were scheduled from April 24 to June 12 have now shrunk to a barely 40-day break with schools holding classes until May 1 or in some cases even up to May 15. Several school managements have already informed parents that the classes for the new academic year would begin from April 1. 

Parents, however, allege that the schools have announced this as a measure to retain students. "The managements have asked us to pay for textbooks and uniforms for the coming academic year right at the beginning of April. This would mean that we will not be able to shift our children to other schools during the vacation," rued L Sambasiva Rao, a parent. 

School managements tell another story. They explain that they will run classes till May so that the parents who have not paid up the fee for the coming academic year pay it by May. "We do not give report cards of students if the parents have not paid up the fee. Hence we conduct classes till May 1 to get them pay the due amount," said a school management representative who didn't want to be named. 

Among the schools that have decided to conduct classes in summer are corporate schools like Narayana Techno Schools, Sri Chaitanya Techno Schools, Gautam Group of Schools, Krishnaveni Group of Schools and Keshav Reddy Group of Schools. Only Students of these schools between classes VI and X would have to attend summer classes. In smaller private schools however, like Genius Grammar School, Dilshuknagar and Sradha High School, Ramananthpur which have also decided to conduct summer classes, all students between classes II and X would have to attend summer classes. 

"We will take action against schools which do not follow the prescribed almanac. Vacation classes are strictly prohibited," said DEO P Suseendra Rao. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Pvt-schools-plan-summer-classes-to-retain-students/articleshow/7745561.cms

Notices issued to 25 pvt schools indicted by CAG, DoE tells HC

New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) The Directorate of Education (DoE) of Delhi government today told the Delhi High Court that notices were issued to 25 unaided private schools here following their indictment by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for accounting malpractices including faking the loss.

"We (DoE) have already issued notices to 25 erring schools," the counsel, appearing for the schools'' regulator, told a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Sidhharth Mridul said.

The DoE said the show cause notices were issued in pursuance of the CAG''s report relating to financial year of 2006 to 2009.

Meanwhile, Ashok Aggarwal, counsel for the ''Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh'', sought an investigation by an agency like CBI into the irregularities pointed out by the CAG in the report.

"The CAG reports reveals not only several accounting malpractices but commission of criminal offences. Some agency like CBI be asked to investigate into it," Aggarwal said.

Advancing the arguments, he said "as the new academic year is about to commence, the schools, which faked the loss, be restrained from raising fee as it is next to impossible to get it (hike) rolled back. Now, it is established that they are earning profits."

http://in.news.yahoo.com/notices-issued-25-pvt-schools-indicted-cag-doe-20110318-064400-316.html

Ministers response to the school fee article in Sakshi on 14th Feb, 2011

Sakshi | 15Feb2011 | Page6 | www.sakshi.com

Pune school wants to churn out future leaders

In a new initiative, the DAV Public School, Aundh, has introduced a unique system to educate students about how the Indian government functions. 

Election campaigns, posters and pamphlets were distributed in the school in order to campaign for the representatives. The representatives were selected from standard XI.

The elections were conducted, wherein students and teachers cast their votes by using an electronic voting machine. The elected members would function like members of parliament in the school for one whole year. 

A government of the elected candidates was also set up. All elected representatives were administered the oath by the coordinator of the school, Lakshmi. The code of conduct for ethics has to be followed by all elected representatives.

‘President’ Sohal Thakur told students, “My team may not do different things but they may do things differently.” ‘Prime minister’ Kirti Sinha thanked the teachers and students for their support. Parents of all representatives were invited to witness the occasion.

At the end of the function, school principal Jayshri Venkatraman, teachers and parents blessed the representatives. According to Venkatraman, “This exercise will help students to understand how the government works and how elections take place, and would get them involved and interested in the procedures.” 

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_pune-school-wants-to-churn-out-future-leaders_1502235

Want ward in school? Ask police to certify your character.

Want your child admitted to a reputed school? Be ready to produce a character certificate.

Sounds bizarre, right? But thisschool in Juhu has its argument ready. It has to do with security threats, the authorities say. Parents must submit a character certificate verifying that they have no criminal background. 

Fatima Sheikh (name changed), a parent who approached the school to get her kid admitted in senior KG, was prepared for long queues, interviews and waiting lists, but not for several trips to the police station.

According to the specifications of the school, the character certificate has to be obtained from the crime branch of the police. It must carry mention of any previous criminal case such as theft, murder and accident against the parents.

“We had to submit the certificate within 10 days. My husband had to take leave from work to ensure the progress of the certificate. We also had to give bribes to officers so that they would speed up the process,” she said.

The school authorities said they adopted this policy after the police issued an advisory in December 2010 to all city schools to step up security measures as they were likely to be soft targets for terrorist activities.

“This is a security measure to ensure that we don’t have the wrong kind of people entering the institution, which could lead to a security threat to all our students. These measures have been incorporated by our management after considerable representation from the parents and adequate thought to serve the best interest of our students,’’ said the principal of the school.

She said the school has installed closed circuit television camera network and provided additional security, both during and after school hours, as security measures. “We have asked the certificate from parents not to eliminate children of parents with a criminal record but to evaluate the risk profile based on the information provided,” she said.

If the parents are not happy, then the police are not amused too. A senior official from the crime branch said, “Running a background check on parents is a time consuming affair and requires many resources. We have to report even minor crimes like accidents. The process generally takes more than 30 days. It is taxing on the police department as well.”

Sunil Chavan, deputy director of education, said schools are not allowed to have any sort of screening process while admitting children. “A school leaving certificate, bona fide or birth certificate are the only documents that schools can ask for. We have not given the school permission to ask for character certificates,” he said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_want-ward-in-school-ask-police-to-certify-your-character_1502037

Andhra Jyothy | 18th January, 2011 | Hyderabad Edition | Page 5

As govt sits on HC order, schools in city hike fee

Hyderabad: The academic year 2011-12 could leave a bigger hole in the pockets of city parents as schools are expected to hike fee, with the high court directive on regulation of fees in private schools gathering dust with the government. Several schools are gearing up to announce a 10-50 per cent fee hike from the coming academic year.

While several schools have already communicated to the parents their fee hike decision orally hike, others like Meridian have even sent out circulars. Chirec and others have gone a step ahead and uploaded their revised fee structure on their websites. This even as the school education department is sitting on the court directive to monitor fee hike.

Parents rue that the state government has failed to keep its p ro m - ise of checking undue rise in the fee structure. “The GO Ms No 91 was challenged in the court by parents and the judge ruled in our favour. Though the school education department was given the complete responsibility of keeping tabs on the fee, orders were not followed even three months after the judgment,” said Kamal Malliramani, member, Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA).

According to parents, the new admissions to some schools for the 2011-12 academic year have been done as per the revised fee. “In HPS Nacharam and Mahendera Hills the fee structure for new admissions is 25 per cent higher than that of the previous years. And the schools have orally communicated to the parents the decision to increase the fee for old students by 40 to 50 per cent,” said M Ravi Kumar, a member of HSPA.

'Move to hike school fee should be checked now’
Officials of the school education department said they would act on the court’s order before the beginning of the next academic year. Parents said this should be done before March when schools would announce their new fee structures.

Schools on their part say there is nothing amiss in the fee hikes announced for the next academic year. “Since there has been no follow up of the court order, we are well within our rights to take the approval of the school managing committee and increase the fee. If parents have a problem, they can directly approach the school,’’ said Usha Reddy, principal, Meridian School.

As per the court orders issued on August 2010, the fee structure of the schools had to be decided by the director of school education. The order further stated that the fee structure decided by the DSE would not be raised for a period of three years. The state government was also asked to emulate the Tamil Nadu government’s policy where the fee structure of every school was systematically audited.

Meanwhile, apart from the fee hike, schools seem to have also found other ways of filling their coffers. The so-far optional mess facility has now become compulsory the annual charges for which are Rs 14,000. In some schools bus facility is a must for all students whether they need it or not.According to parents, the total fee hike across schools is expected to range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/As-govt-sits-on-HC-order-schools-in-city-hike-fee/articleshow/7308471.cms

As govt sits on HC order, schools in city hike fee

Hyderabad: The academic year 2011-12 could leave a bigger hole in the pockets of city parents as schools are expected to hike fee, with the high court directive on regulation of fees in private schools gathering dust with the government. Several schools are gearing up to announce a 10-50 per cent fee hike from the coming academic year.

While several schools have already communicated to the parents their fee hike decision orally hike, others like Meridian have even sent out circulars. Chirec and others have gone a step ahead and uploaded their revised fee structure on their websites. This even as the school education department is sitting on the court directive to monitor fee hike.

Parents rue that the state government has failed to keep its p ro m - ise of checking undue rise in the fee structure. “The GO Ms No 91 was challenged in the court by parents and the judge ruled in our favour. Though the school education department was given the complete responsibility of keeping tabs on the fee, orders were not followed even three months after the judgment,” said Kamal Malliramani, member, Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA).

According to parents, the new admissions to some schools for the 2011-12 academic year have been done as per the revised fee. “In HPS Nacharam and Mahendera Hills the fee structure for new admissions is 25 per cent higher than that of the previous years. And the schools have orally communicated to the parents the decision to increase the fee for old students by 40 to 50 per cent,” said M Ravi Kumar, a member of HSPA.

'Move to hike school fee should be checked now’
Officials of the school education department said they would act on the court’s order before the beginning of the next academic year. Parents said this should be done before March when schools would announce their new fee structures.

Schools on their part say there is nothing amiss in the fee hikes announced for the next academic year. “Since there has been no follow up of the court order, we are well within our rights to take the approval of the school managing committee and increase the fee. If parents have a problem, they can directly approach the school,’’ said Usha Reddy, principal, Meridian School.

As per the court orders issued on August 2010, the fee structure of the schools had to be decided by the director of school education. The order further stated that the fee structure decided by the DSE would not be raised for a period of three years. The state government was also asked to emulate the Tamil Nadu government’s policy where the fee structure of every school was systematically audited.

Meanwhile, apart from the fee hike, schools seem to have also found other ways of filling their coffers. The so-far optional mess facility has now become compulsory the annual charges for which are Rs 14,000. In some schools bus facility is a must for all students whether they need it or not.According to parents, the total fee hike across schools is expected to range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.

Principals may face jail for fee hikes

MUMBAI: Schools hiking fees unreasonably could face stringent punishment. Apart from de-recognition, representatives on its management committee could face imprisonment and a fine. The state school education department is finalizing a draft of the proposed legislation meant to regulate fee hikes.

The government is keen to introduce the legislation after complaints against schools regarding exorbitant fee hikes. The state government had introduced a government resolution (GR) in July 15 last year. Last September, it was set aside by the Bombay high court, saying schools could decide fees.

Contending that the court ruling against it was on technical grounds, the government decided to introduce legislation to regulate fee hikes. An expert panel was set up to study the regulatory mechanism in place in Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. The panel studied court judgments and rulings in relation to the case.

On the basis of its inputs, the department formulated a draft for the proposed legislation. Even as it is being given final touches, senior department officials shared light on the draft`s basic structure.

Similar to the Tamil Nadu model, the state plans committees headed by retired judges to regulate hikes. While managements can fix school fees, a hike will have to be ratified by the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA). If the latter finds it unreasonable, it could approach a committee, which will be divisional or district-level. The committee, comprising a retired judge, an official from the school board, and another person, will decide on the reasonability of the hike.

Faujiya Khan, minister of state for school education, said the draft was yet to be finalized.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Principals-may-face-jail-for-fee-hikes/articleshow/7220010.cms

CBSE prescription: schools must tie up with hospitals

BANGALORE: Here's another boost to the safety measures of your child when in school. In a student-friendly move, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has advised all its affiliated schools to have a tie up with a neighboring hospital. 

The circular dated October 18, 2010 and signed by chairman Vineet Joshi states: "There is a need to create medical care facilities and systems in schools and also have tie up with a nearby hospital within a radius of 2-4 km for any medical emergency.'' The move is part of creating a "safe, fearless and secure environment" which is a prime requirement of holistic education. 

With an increasing aggressiveness among children of this generation, even the cases of casualties in schools have risen, authorities say. 

"There will be around 8-10 small casualties every day. When compared to previous years, there is an increase in the number of cases from the classrooms. If it had been, say, five cases five years ago, it would be eight now. Students tend to imitate the scenes they watch in TV during the breaks," says Mansoor Ali Khan, trustee member, board of management, Delhi Public School. 

Increase in physical fights and restlessness among children of classes three to six are noticeable, teachers say. 

Asthma, stomach pain, fever and minor accidents like falls are the common incidents in schools. Many schools in the city already have their own in-house medical facilities with full-time doctors, nurses and first aid box (even in the school buses as students tend to get into fights even there). A few even have ambulances in case of emergencies. 

Kumaran's Children's Home is planning to make it more `specialized'. They are planning to open a nebulising unit for students with breathing problems. 

While some schools like Geetanjali Vidyalaya have the phone numbers of the students' paediatricians stored in the handbooks, others say they call the parents immediately as they will have objections to the hospitals they take the children to. 

Some schools already have understandings with hospitals Army Public School with the army hospital and Gear Innovative International with VIMS. There are others who are finalizing the tie ups. "We are in the final process. Apart from emergency cases, they would conduct health check-ups, lectures and give tips on healthy living," says P S Khot, New Horizon Gurukul. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/CBSE-prescription-schools-must-tie-up-with-hospitals/articleshow/7056016.cms

Wary of T stir, schools cancel Christmas vacation !

HYDERABAD: The impending 'T' agitation that is expected to follow the submission of Srikrishna Committee report on Telangana statehood, scheduled for December 31, seems to have dampened the Christmas vacation plans of the city school students. While some schools have decided to cancel their Christmas vacation, a few others postponed the half-yearly examination to January, making the festive season a time for special classes and studies. 

The schools which have decided to cancel their Christmas vacation include Meridian (all branches), Chirec (all branches), P Obul Reddy High School, Jubilee Hills and Sr. Nivedita School, Begumpet. City parents said that several schools, including Bhaskar School, Kukatpally, had taken the task of finishing the portions well in advance of the report submission and are rushing through the portions by conducting special classes every week. Most schools will give only one-day holiday on December 25 for students, who were expecting to wind down during a week-long vacation. 

School authorities said that some of them have been threatened by `T' agitators that they should not be running classes during bandh this time around and hence, several of them are struggling to complete the portions before December 15. "Some schools like Chirec will have an extra hour of instruction every day so that the portions get completed," said a city parent. Meanwhile, some of the schools like Delhi Public School have been conducting extra classes even on Saturdays with an aim to finish the portions before December 15. 

Meanwhile, schools which give holidays for Sankranti are also having second thoughts about their vacation plans. While the state government declared a Sankranti vacation from January 8 to 19, some of the schools are planning to conduct special classes during the time. "We were told that Sankrati celebrations will have to be boycotted in Telangana schools as it is more of an Andhra festival. We are expecting trouble and hence, will take a decision on vacation time in the coming week," said a school management representative from Abids. 

However, S Srivivas Reddy, convener, Recognised Schools Managements Association, said that the association had told all the schools to continue with their vacation plans without succumbing to `T' threats. "We are trying hard to get Essential Services Maintenance Act (Esma) for schools too. If the High Court gives a ruling in our favour, the schools in the state will not have to cancel their study hours," said Reddy. 

The school education department officials stated that the vacation for Christmas and Sankranti festivals have already been announced. Christmas vacation is from December 23 to January 1 and for Sankranti, the vacation will be January 8 to 19. "The vacation schedule declared by the state government should be followed by schools," said an official. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Wary-of-T-stir-schools-cancel-Christmas-vacation/articleshow/7049888.cms

Dont charge development fee, private school told

GURGAON: A long battle of parents against Chiranjeev Bharti School in Gurgaon over developmental fee has ended into a pyrrhic victory of sorts for them as the school has been ordered to not to take the monthly development fee of Rs 1600. However, the bigger question of whether private schools can charge such a fee in a different manner continues to remain unaddressed. 

Sanjeev Yadav, who led the fight against the private school in Palam Vihar, said that he was happy with the new order but will celebrate only once the development fee collected by the school in the past was returned to the parents. 

We are happy that the school now can not charge developmental fee but what about the money that we have paid so far, said Yadav who mobilised the parents and collected signatures from 500 parents for the campaign. My three children study in this school and in past ten years I have paid over Rs 40,000 as developmental fee in addition to the other charges, he added. 

On the basis of parents complaints, the issue was brought up in the public grievance committee meeting on November 16 where minister for Power Mahender Partap Singh ordered the school to stop charging the fee from the next academic session and adjust the charges taken this year proportionately into the fee in future. Earlier, the issue was probed by SDM Gurgaon (North) Satender Duhan who indicted the school on fee hike. 

I am aware of the order given by the minister but the school management is yet to work out how to repay the developmental charges paid by the parents this year, said Rashi Narula, principal of the school. 

Yadav claimed that the school authorities had no justifications for developmental fee. The school kept collecting money from thousands of students every year and no one objected to it. While in past the fee was Rs 500, school administration suddenly raised it to Rs 1600. People like me, whole have more than one children studying there cant afford to pay this money, he said. 

But when asked about justification of developmental charges, she had something different to say: Every school charges such fee at the time of admission but in our school we charge it every year. Now on we will change the fee structure accordingly. 

With school management still adamant on charging the fee, the tussle looks far from over. Parents can file complaints about any private schools asking for developmental charges and I will take appropriate action against the school, district education officer Jyoti Chaudhary said. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Dont-charge-development-fee-private-school-told/articleshow/6957100.cms

When will Fee regulation happen ???

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http://eenadu.net/story.asp?qry1=22&reccount=25

CAG heat on 25 Delhi schools for fee hike

Parents protesting against the sudden hike in tuition fee across private schools in Delhi on account of the Sixth Pay Commission have been vindicated.

A tell-all audit report of 25 unaided schools submitted recently by the Comptroller Audit General of India (CAG) corroborates the gnawing suspicion among parents that the fee hike was indeed unjustified.

According to the report - that was submitted to the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary of Education and the Lieutenant Governor in the first week of November - several sought- after institutions should not have footed the bill of salary arrears to the parents as they had adequate reserve funds to pay the increased remuneration of teachers.

Thirteen out of the 25 institutions audited by CAG were found guilty of burdening parents and these include prestigious names (see box) such as Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, Amity International School, Saket, Air Force Bal Bharti School, Lodhi Road, Mount Carmel School, Anand Niketan, St. Xavier's School, Raj Niwas Marg, Sadhu Vaswani School, Presentation Convent Sr. Sec School, St.Mary's School, Mayur Vihar and G. D. Goenka School, Vasant Kunj.

There are a total of 1,211 private schools in Delhi. The 25 schools were randomly selected covering six districts of the Capital and have been audited for the period from April 2006 to March 2009. The audit, which has been conducted in the context of a Recent Public Interest Litigation filed with the Delhi High Court on the issue of fee hike, is a first of many to come.

CAG report finds the hike unjustified

The report states: "All these (13) schools had free reserves, which as per directions, should have been utilised first to pay the salary arrears from January 2006 to August 2008.

However, the school management first collected tuition fee from students to the maximum permissible extent and then utilised their free reserves… to meet balance liability. These schools, thus, unauthorisedly collected ` 13.08 crore and placed avoidable burden on parents." Delhi Public School, RK Puram, for instance, collected salary arrears over Rs 2.5 crore even though it had a reserve fund of more than Rs 15 crore at its disposal as of March 2008.

Summer Fields School in Kailash Colony, on the other hand, had its students pay arrears of up to Rs 95 lakh when it had close to Rs 5 crore in its reserve fund.

"I was there at the time of the audit and the observations made by the CAG are completely correct. I, too, had objected to a fee increase when the school had adequate funds to meet the hike in salaries.

"Parents were being footed the bill to meet the needs of the owners. But education today has become a commercial commodity," said a former principal of popular school in South Delhi, who did not wish to be identified.

The Principals of Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, St.Xavier's School and Amity International School, Saket, could not be reached despite repeated attempts. D. M Sharma, director, GD Goenka, did not wish to comment on the issue as he was out of town.

The CAG, however, has also pinned the responsibility of such gross violation on the Delhi government. "The (education) department did not fulfill its obligation to get the accounts of unaided school duly audited… due to weak governance by the DOE the schools continued to enhance fees despite having surplus funds," the report states.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/119887/India/cag-heat-on-25-city-schools-for-fee-hike.html

Schools turn events into marketing stunts

HYDERABAD: The once small-scale school events have metamorphosed into mega events, creeping out of school campuses into stadiums and auditoriums, galleries or even hotels. Be it the school's annual day or an anniversary blast, the budgets of these celebrations are now in the range of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per annum. 

From renting sports stadiums to flaunting a few local celebrities and public figures in functions including annual days, the schools are ready to do it all to market themselves to future parents. In the past few months alone, a city school has organised a function at Gachibowli stadium spending Rs 55,000 even as another school is currently planning to book the same location for its 15 year anniversary to be held soon, the budget for which is estimated to be Rs 75,000. Another such event in the city was a musical event organised by a private school spending Rs 35,000 with professional singers from the city participating in it. 

But even as the managements are having a blast with these publicity functions meant to attract more students to their schools, it is the parents who are feeling the pinch with the managements seeking "contributions'' from students. Schools collect Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 per student to conduct these mega events. 

"Right at the beginning of the academic year, the fee collected is based on the expenditure of the school to hold such events too. The 10 to 30 per cent fee hike which is thrust upon the parents every year is the direct result of such events conducted by the school," a parent said. 

Parents also alleged that while splurging money on public functions, the schools do not take care of the interests of the students. "From Sanskrit Divas to Hindi Diwas the students are made to participate in all events in the school and we are forced to spend on costumes and food," said a parent. 

With schools actively celebrating every event , right from "Global Handwash Day" to "Say no to Drugs Campaign" on the roads, holding rallies to attract attention more to their brand than to the cause, the parents remain a disgruntled lot. 

Parents pointed out that there are some schools which hold mega events thoughout the year for publicity. These schools which have branches across the city and conduct at least 10 events in a month, starting from inter school painting competitions and debate competitions to stamp exhibitions, most of which are held in public venues like galleries. 

Meanwhile, students said that they often feel compelled to participate in the events. "In our school all the trips are currently study tours and it is mandatory for us to attend them. We are also supposed to participate in all the festivals be it Janmashtami or Dasara and these functions are held in Ravindra Bharati and not the school premises," said a student. 

Parents say with the state government not introducing a fee regulation act even after the High Court directed them to bring relief to the parents by regulating fees, they would have to continue funding school functions. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Schools-turn-events-into-marketing-stunts/articleshow/6904701.cms

(Times of India | Hyderabad | Page5 | 11.11.2010)