Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed the Education Officer (EO) at the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) to look into the allegations about a private school flouting the norms for forming its Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) over the past several years.
The child rights body took up the issue after a group of parents complained that the school is packing the PTA with its hand-picked members instead of following the due process. This is done in order to get away with various arbitrary charges and decisions imposed on parents, said complaints.
The commission on Wednesday issued a letter to EO, seeking an inquiry and necessary action into the matter.
According to parents, the PTA Executive Committee members are appointed in an opaque draw. They also complained that the body has an equal number of teachers and parents, even though the law provides for more representation to parents.
According to Maharashtra Educational Institutes (Regulation of Fee) Act 2011, each school needs to have a PTA, with all the parents as its members. Its executive committee is headed by the school principal and consists of representatives of parents and teachers from all the classes. The school management is required to get the committee's approval for changes in fees.
The guardian of a student said that, in the absence of a duly appointed PTA, the school has been levying various penalties and additional charges on students. The parents have been asked to pay the bus charges for the entire year at one go and made to purchase school books and notebooks from a specific vendor, he said.
"If PTA is strong it can take objection to actions by schools. It acts as a bridge between the school, students and teachers. However, the management has installed a dummy body so that they can do whatever they want. As PTA members are selected randomly, they are not even In the picture after a point of time," said the complainant.
FPJ couldn't reach the school principal and management for their response.
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