Don't stop education to kids of defaulting parents: DSEK to schools

Srinagar, Apr 5: In a latest development, the private schools across Kashmir will use Land Revenue Arrears Act to collect fees from the defaulting parents who switch schools for their without clearing dues in previous institutions.

The move comes in wake of the meeting convened by the Director School Education Kashmir (DSEK) with the representatives of the private schools to discuss the issues pertaining to the functioning of the institutions.

Besides issues like charging donation from parents, prescribing textbooks of private publishers, the meeting also discussed the issue about the defaulting parents who without clearing pending dues, switch schools for their kids without obtaining discharge certificate from the previous institute.

"We discussed the issue with the Director and he advised the schools to use Land Revenue Arrears Act to recover the fees from the defaulter parents while taking help of the district administration under the said Act," said a private school owner who was part of the meeting.

Over the years, the management of the private schools have been complaining that a good number of parents keep their fees pending for the whole year and later switch the school without clearing the dues.

"The parents enroll their kids in government schools during the enrollment drive launched by the education department. These students are not asked to produce a discharge certificate which is to be obtained from the previous institution. This way they create problems for private schools," the school proprietor told Greater Kashmir.

He said the education department enrolls these students in government schools during the drive under Right to Education (RTE) Act which guarantees free education to the students up to elementary level.

"The parents take advantage of it and do not clear the dues in private schools," he said.

In the past, some incidents came to fore wherein the parents complained that the private schools were withholding the admit cards of students for annual Board exams or were denied transport facility of the schools for not paying the dues.

"The director of school education told us not to stop any facilities to the students be it transport or academics for not clearing the dues. But we were asked to recover the pending dues from parents by taking advantage of the Land Revenue Arrears Act," he said.