‘Government policies irrational; G.O. 53 will lead to closure of many institutions’
Expressing serious concern over the new policies being introduced in the education sector as a part of reforms, the private school managements across the country have come onto a common platform to discuss measure to “confront the new challenges” that stare at them.
At a two-day meeting called by the Andhra Pradesh Private and Unaided Schools’ Managements’ Association (APPUSMA) here on Saturday and attended by the representatives of the National Independent Schools’ Alliance (NISA) and the Telangana Recognised School Managements’ Association (TRSMA), it was decided to launch a collective ‘Save Education and Save Schools’ campaign.
Calling the government policies “irrational” and “out of sync with reality,” the representatives of unaided private schools had been urging the States to adopt a “practical approach.”
“Our constant pleas to the governments to amend and revoke certain G.Os. that are detrimental to the interests of our schools are not being heeded, leaving us with no option but to take legal course,” said M.V. Ramachandra Reddy, State president of APPUSMA.
“Unity is the key,” said Kulbhushan Sharma, national president of NISA, explaining that schools at the village, mandal, district, State and national level would have to work collectively to find solution to their problems. Making representations to the policy-makers was also important, he emphasised.
Founder-president of APPUSMA Janardhan Reddy and others from the association cited the “problematic G.O. 53” on fee regulation in private schools, and said its implementation in entirety would result in closure of a vast number of private educational institutions.
Literacy rate
Adviser to NISA on International Affairs J.S. Paranjyothi said private educational institutions contributed a great deal to the literacy rate in the country and their interests should be kept in mind while framing the policies.
APPUSMA State secretary K.V. Tulasi Vishnu Prasad spoke about the legal modalities, and said G.O. 53 would create several hurdles in the functioning of the schools.
Legal Adviser to NISA Shashi Kumar highlighted the need for a “School Protection Act” in view of the “threats being faced by the private schools.”
APPSUMA chief mentor A. Krishna Reddy, vice-president (legal) for NISA Martin Kennedy and a host of others shared their experiences in the aftermath of the recent developments in the sector.
Source: Read Full Article