STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Members of Central Executive Body of J&K Private Schools Association (JKPSA), Jammu called on Chairman, J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE), Dr Parikshat Singh Manhas and presented a memorandum regarding various teething problems faced by private schools.
While briefing, members highlighted a number of problems which included abrupt increase of affiliation / inspection fee on January 12, 2023 by JKBOSE, over charging of fee by JKBOSE in lakh in place of actual affiliation / inspection fee due to technical fault of the portal designed by NIC for JKBOSE, harassment by the cluster heads while conducting Middle Standard Examination (MSE) to the students and managements of private schools due to non availability of affiliation/ recognition even after the submission of files online/ offline mode to JKBOSE and ambiguity while admitting the student in class 1st in academic session 2023-24. The members showed dismay for the irrational attitude of the government towards all private schools especially to the small private schools which were the worst sufferer for more than three years i.e. since February 14, 2019 to February 06, 2022 due to the unrest and lockdown erupted after Pulwama attack, abrogation of Article 370 and COVID-19 outbreak.
Members demanded immediate return / refund of the fee which has exceeded in lakhs than actual affiliation / inspection fee with suitable rate of interest to the concerned private schools. They said that immediate instruction for all DIET / cluster heads should be given not to harass the managements of the private schools during MSE. Members also demanded a calendar indicating the cutout month of minimum age for the admission of a student as per mandate of NEP 2020 before the commencement of new academic session.
Dr Parikshat Singh Manhas gave a patient hearing and promised to mitigate the genuine problems shortly. The members of the delegation included Kamal Gupta, Rameshwar Mengi, Ajay Gupta, Sat Paul Mansotra and Vikram Handa.