05 June,2017 08:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Gaurav Sarkar
Sanjay Nirupam has roped in the governor to look into the parents' issues regarding arbitrary fee hike and has said that their regulation has not been well-implemented by the current government
Sanjay Nirupam and a delegate of parents meet the governor on Saturday.
A day after meeting governor C Vidyasagar Rao to discuss the 'arbitrary' hike in private schools' fees, president of the Mumbai Congress Committee Sanjay Nirupam speaks to mid-day, saying he has asked the governor to intervene in primary and school affairs as the 'education department is completely neglected by the government'. Excerpts from the interview:
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Why is the governor required to step in on a matter of education, which is primarily a state/centre issue?
When any government fails to deliver or shows inability to help the people, the governor should step in and take strict action. The whole fee hike this year is completely illegal and amounts to violation of law. The governor must intervene in the matter and take action against institutions implementing this fee hike. Since all the universities for higher education are controlled by the governor, he should also have the right to intervene in primary and middle school education. The Department of Education should also ask all such schools to reverse their irrational fee hike. He (governor) has assured us that in a day or two, he will meet with the concerned officers of the department and take up the matter with them."
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Do the various PTAs of different private schools play a role in the fee hike?
The PTAs are hand-in-glove in making this fee hike possible. Whichever parents are ready to serve the interest of the school, are incorporated into the PTA. Even the fee hike review committee set up by Vinod Tawde is a joke; parents who are fighting the management are taken aback by the inclusion of management members onto this committee.
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During the Congress' last tenure at the Centre, a similar fee hike issue had arisen. How come no similar meetings with governors were set up then?
If we could not control it then, does that mean that we should not do anything about it in the future? The Regulation of Fee Act (2011) drafted by us back then is such a beautiful piece of legislation, but the current state government is not able to implement the law properly, which is why we approached the governor.
