Schools are feeling ‘targeted’ by edu dept

Nagpur: Private unaided schools claim the education department continues to exhibit hostile behaviour against them, even over issues which are now subjudice.
TOI had reported on Tuesday about Unaided Schools Forum (USF), a private schools’ association, complaining about education officials from Mumbai harassing their members over ‘frivolous’ issues.
After the article, some local CBSE schools reached out to TOI and said that they too are facing interference from education officials. A CBSE school principal said, “The school fee issue, which saw a lot of discussion during the pandemic, continues to drag on. Some parents simply refuse to pay up even though we know it’s well within their capacity to do so. Their kids are enrolled in extra-curricular activities for which they are paying, but they keep contesting the regular fee.”
The principal said that some groups of parents file complaints with the education department, which in turn sends them notices. “The matter has already gone to court and it cannot be taken up at this local level,” the principal added.
A GR issued by the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had given instructions to schools about fees. This was challenged by schools in court, saying the state does not have jurisdiction related to fees in schools, so they cannot directly ask an institute to slash the fee for an academic year.
Another issue which USF honorary secretary Subhash Chandra Kedia highlighted was the harassment by education officials over no-objection certificate (NOC). Kedia told TOI, “Our members are being called and asked for unwarranted favours.” tnn