Behind the Facade of Collaboration Lies a System of Coercion, Skyrocketing Fees, and the Silenced Suffering of Kashmir’s Families. It’s Time for Accountability.
By: Javid Amin | Srinagar | 14 July 2025
The PTM Paradox: From Dialogue to Dictatorship
In most educational settings, Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs) act as a bridge between school and home. They are platforms designed to encourage collaboration, identify learning gaps, and build a strong foundation for student development. However, in Kashmir’s private school ecosystem, this foundational pillar is being manipulated into a weapon of compliance and control.
PTMs: Once Collaborative, Now Coercive
Across various districts in Kashmir, schools now issue circulars laden with threats. Missing a PTM doesn’t just mean missing out on feedback—it translates into direct academic and emotional consequences for students. Parents report that schools threaten to:
- Strike off student attendance records
- Withhold report cards, notebooks, or assignments
- Bar access to classrooms and important materials
- Publicly shame children or their families during school events
One such chilling circular from a school in Srinagar read:
“Your cooperation will be appreciated so we are not forced to strike your child’s attendance.”
This statement alone captures the disturbing transition from partnership to pressure. The message is loud and clear: comply, or your child suffers.
Guilt, Shame & Social Punishment: When Schools Cross the Line
PTMs are increasingly becoming platforms where parental financial standing and social appearance are scrutinized, mocked, or indirectly condemned.
Public Shaming Tactics
- Lists of “defaulter parents” displayed during meetings
- Children being asked in front of peers why their parents did not attend
- Parents judged for attire or language
A mother from Ganderbal was openly humiliated for attending a PTM in a faded pheran. She was told to “present herself better” as a reflection of her child’s upbringing. Instead of creating a safe space for educational discourse, schools are turning these meetings into hierarchical trials where class and income dictate respect.
PayTime Pressure: How Private Schools Monetize Every Moment
Beyond PTMs, the entire fee structure of private schools in Kashmir is rigged to extract maximum revenue with minimum transparency. With no fee regulation committee in place post the abrogation of Article 370, private institutions operate with unchecked authority.
Arbitrary Charges That Bleed Families
- Annual tuition fees ranging between ₹60,000 to ₹1.2 lakh
- Smartboard/classroom tech charges: ₹8,000–₹15,000
- Winter session/heating fees: ₹5,000–₹10,000
- Non-refundable “security deposits”: Up to ₹20,000
- Books and uniforms tied to specific vendors
These costs are often verbally communicated, or buried under broad terms like “development charges,” making them impossible to contest. A father in Pulwama sold his apple orchard to pay a retroactive session fee of ₹80,000.
Parent Voices: Stories from the Frontline of Financial Trauma
“It’s Not Education, It’s Extortion in Uniforms”
Real stories reveal the intense psychological and financial strain parents face:
- A daily-wage labourer in Budgam had to borrow from a loan shark to clear his child’s exam fee.
- A widow in Sopore was rebuked by the principal for requesting a payment extension.
- A parent in Baramulla was warned that their child would not be allowed to sit for final exams without clearing a surprise tech fee.
These aren’t just anecdotes—they represent a systemic pattern of institutional overreach that preys on Kashmir’s struggling middle and lower-income families.
Children Punished, Humiliated & Pressured: The Hidden Tragedy
While the financial extortion directly targets parents, the emotional cost is borne by their children. And unlike unpaid dues, their suffering leaves no receipt.
How Children Are Punished:
- Made to sit at the back or outside the classroom during key academic days
- Barred from school events, trips, or group photos
- Denied mid-day meals or library access
- Publicly shamed by teachers for being children of “non-cooperative” parents
A 10-year-old girl in Anantnag shared:
“They made me stand near the wall all day because my mother didn’t come. I felt like I did something wrong.”
Psychological Impacts Confirmed by Experts
The MSF Mental Health Survey (2023) reported that:
- 80% of children in Kashmir’s private schools exhibit signs of anxiety, depression, or low self-worth
- Over 60% linked their stress to school-related economic or social shaming
These are not just children under pressure—they are children in emotional crisis.
Who Regulates? The Gaping Hole in Education Oversight
Jammu & Kashmir currently lacks a Fee Regulatory Committee, which most Indian states use to monitor and cap private school charges.
Current Regulatory Gaps:
- ❌ No centralized fee structure approval process
- ❌ No digital grievance redressal for parents
- ❌ No audits of school budgets or charges
- ❌ No penalties for coercive circulars or abusive conduct
The Directorate of School Education (DSEK) has been flooded with 1,200+ complaints in 2023 alone, yet only 3 schools faced any official penalty.
Kashmir’s Education Crisis by the Numbers (2023)
| Metric | Data |
|---|---|
| Avg. Annual Fee (Private School) | ₹75,000 |
| Avg. Additional Charges | ₹15,000–₹40,000 |
| Documented Parent Complaints | 1,200+ |
| Schools Penalized (Officially) | 3 |
| Students Denied Report Cards | 800+ |
| Schools Using PTMs as Pressure Tool | ~65% of Private Schools |
Legal Violations: What the Law Actually Says
Private schools practicing coercion are in violation of several legal frameworks:
- Article 21 of the Indian Constitution: Right to dignity
- Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009: Equal access without discrimination
- Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Safeguards against exploitative commercial practices
Parents and civil society can invoke these to file:
- Public Interest Litigations (PILs)
- Complaints with State Child Rights Commissions (once reinstated)
- Consumer court cases against schools
What Needs to Change: A Reform Roadmap
Immediate Actions
- Establish a J&K Fee Regulatory Committee
- Mandatory transparent fee breakdowns on school websites
- Toll-free grievance helpline for parent support
- Student Welfare Councils in every district to act as ombudsmen
Long-Term Structural Changes
- Annual independent audits of school operations
- Community-led watchdog groups for parent advocacy
- Media coalitions to expose malpractice
- Revival of the J&K Child Rights Commission
Bottom-Line: Is This Education or Exploitation?
The current state of private schooling in Kashmir is a violation of both law and ethics. PTMs are no longer academic check-ins—they are battlegrounds where dignity, finances, and futures are negotiated under duress.
Education should uplift, not extract. The moment we turn classrooms into cash registers and teachers into debt collectors, we have failed our children.
This is not just an exposé—it’s a cry for systemic overhaul. Let the voices of parents, the silence of shamed students, and the burden of honest teachers spark the change Kashmir so desperately needs.
