Pvt schools fleece parents as fee panel dies silent death

The private school authorities in Kashmir are feeling free to fleece the parents of children as the crucial committee constituted by the outgoing coalition government to put a check on the fee structure and admission process in educational institutions has died a silent death.
The School Fee Fixation Committee (SFFC), which was set up in 2013 to streamline fee structure in private schools, was grounded after its head, Justice (Retd) Bilal Nazki resigned in February 2014 last year due to alleged non-seriousness of the government towards the committee.
Nazki’s resignation however was not accepted but he quit the post after his appointment as Chairman Human Rights Commission Bihar (HRCB) in March 2014.
In a hard hitting comment, Nazki after quitting from the post tweeted about the fruitless meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah regarding the functioning of the committee. “Could not succeed against private schools, good bye, leaving for Bihar, wish me good luck. Thanks for a fruitless meeting,” Nazki tweeted on micro blogging website Twitter.
Officials in School Education department said the office couldn’t be established for functioning of the committee due to the callous attitude of the government. “The committee was made without providing any office accommodation to its bearers for a long period,” the official said.
Secretary School Education department, Nirmal Sharma, told Greater Kashmir that the file was under examination. “I had reopened the file after assuming charge. I got some inputs from the department but no conclusive decision has been taken yet,” Nirmal Sharma said.
Earlier, the committee had started its drive against arbitrary hike in monthly fee and other charges by elite private schools. The issue landed in judiciary after Private Schools United Front (PSUF) moved HC with a complaint against the committee. Later a status quo was issued by High Court against the proceedings of the committee as well.
However officials in Education department said SFFC had not submitted any report to the government or School Education department regarding its ground work. “The matter of the fact is that none of the elite schools approached them with their school records and other documents,” the officials said.
Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK), Mir Tariq, however said the file was pending for disposal before High Court.
“Before Nazki Sahib quit the post, the committee was challenged before HC and it stayed all proceedings of the committee,” DSEK said.
He said the government had filed objections before the HC but the court is yet to give final judgment in it. “The committee won’t take any further proceedings unless we receive any final judgment from Court,” Tariq Ali added.