Parents want a say in school affairs

What should be their children’s first steps into real life often turn into a torturous experience for many people, especially those eyeing ‘reputable schools with five-star facilities’.

From waiting in long, unbearable queues stretched over several hours for obtaining application forms, to succumbing to schools’ diktats on fees, parents have to endure many tests by fire.

So, how do parents face the challenge?

“It is really agonising. I often wonder why we have to obtain the application forms as early as six months before school admissions begin. And I will have no clue if my child will be admitted till the admission list is put out barely a few days before classes start,” A R Ashok Kumar Adiga, who has formed the Bangalore School Parents’ Association, says.
Many parents whom Deccan Herald spoke with agreed that time was ripe for them to be heard in the affairs of schools where their children studied.

“It’s not just the tedious admission process that is mentally and physically exhausting. Often, schools take us for granted while increasing fees, charging donations, etc. Also, uniforms and shoes are changed frequently, forcing us to buy them anew from the school’s chosen dealers who charge exorbitantly. As for books, my child will be kicked out if I dare to purchase them outside,” Roopesh, a financial consultant from Basaveshwarnagar whose child studies in UKG, complains.

Saleem Ahmad, a resident of Frazer Town, had to wait the night out in a long queue in January to obtain the application form for his granddaughter’s admission.

But not everyone who gets a form is assured of admission. Most schools issue forms at least twice the number of seats they offer. Many schools began issuing forms last November and the most notable schools have completed the process.

The gravity of the problem can be gauged from the fact that board members of schools often dupe parents with promises of admitting their children.

In April 2010, a senior member of the Bishop Cotton Boys’ School (BCBS) was accused of pocketing Rs one lakh from a physically challenged person for granting his grandchild a seat in the kindergarten, a promise he allegedly never fulfilled. As a result, the victim lodged a complaint of cheating with the Cubbon Park police station.

Given the uncertainty over admission, many parents have applied for about five schools each. Once the filled-in forms are submitted, schools scrutinise the applications and it is here where parents get hurt the most.

Not only that schools weigh the parents’ income, they also take into account their erudition. “If my wife cannot speak English, the school will not admit my child saying she won’t be able to guide him/her in homework. Put simply, schools convey that the child of an illiterate woman should remain illiterate,” Adiga said. 

In his view, school admissions should be monitored the way admission to professional courses is being regulated.

To prevent schools from issuing scores of forms, they should be asked to admit children on the first-come, first-served basis.

Further, no screening, either of children or their parents, should be allowed as mandated by the Right To Education (RTE) Act, Adiga demands.

According to him, unscrupulous schools can be reined in if the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) gets its act together.

Many rules are being thrown to the winds by schools. The Department should force every school to renew the No Objection Certificate (NOC) every two years as per norms. If any school fails to adhere to the guidelines, the NOC should be cancelled.

Moreover, the Union Government should enact legislation on the lines of the Tamil Nadu (Regulation of Collection of Fees) Act 2009 to determine the fees of unaided schools, including those affiliated to CBSE and ICSE.

“It’s strange that the Government says it cannot control schools built on land allotted by the Bangalore Development Authority at throwaway prices. Not only the DPI officials but also the BDA personnel are hand in glove with errant schools,” he says.