Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The private schools in the city, publishers and books and stationery sellers have come up with a smart idea to fox the government and the parents. The MP government has recently issued an order that parents should not be asked to buy books and stationery from particular shops.
To outwit the government and the parents, the schools prescribe such books, stationery and uniform as are not available in the shops other than the ones selected by the institutions.
Similarly, stationery sellers have a great bond with the school and the publishers. The sellers have arranged the bundles of school- and class-wise books. Parents only need to provide the class and school name without even specifying the individual book titles, and the stationery sellers will provide the complete bundle accordingly without even looking after the list.
When the Free Press reached out to several schools in the city, they denied the allegations.
A representative from one private school said that there might be collaboration between the publisher and stationery, but their school does not compel parents to purchase books from any specific vendor. Another school stated that they provide parents with complete freedom to choose the stationery they prefer for buying books without any coercion.
Prabodh Pandy, the general secretary of the Parents Association (Palak Mahasangh), told Free Press that they have long been advocating for private schools to adopt NCERT, SCERT, or CBSE books, as this would potentially dismantle such alliances and reduce book costs.
Mahendra Singh, a parent whose daughter studies in 7th grade, said, “Previously, the school provided the list of books to parents on the day of the results, enabling them to purchase the required books from the designated stationery. However, now the school distributes the book list through social media groups”.
Jabalpur District Administration Comes Down Heavily On 18 Schools
Booked for forcing parents to but books, uniform from specific vendors, unreasonable fee hike.
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Following the directive of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Jabalpur district administration on Wednesday took action against 18 private schools that were forcing parents to purchase textbooks and uniform from specific shops.
Cases have been filed against them under Madhya Pradesh Private School Regulatory Act. They have also been booked for unreasonable fee hike.
If any school is found guilty of violating the rules, a fine of Rs 2 lakh will be levied and their accreditation could also be revoked. The district collector has constituted a committee to look into the matter.
The schools against which the case has been registered include Sri Chaitanya Techno School, St. Aloysius School, Stemfield International School, Ryan International School, Orchid International School, Care Public School, Wisdom Valley School, Mount Litera, St. Joseph’s Convent-Sadar, St. Francis School, Christ Church Co-ed, Jupiter International School, Ideal School, Christ Church Jabalpur Diocesan School, Kshitij Model School, Nachiketa School, Kamladevi School, and Little Heart School.
Additionally, a complaint has been taken into cognizance against Stemfield School in Vijaynagar for increasing fees by 22 %, which goes against the rules set last year.
