Parents of students in CBSE schools protest in 22 states to regulate fees

In condemnation of the increasing commercialisation of school education across India, over a hundred parents formed a human chain and went on a silent protest near Red Cross building on Saturday. Led by the Mission Education Federation, thousands of parents came together to protest in 22 states in the country.

The number of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools dramatically crossed over 19,000 in a period of a few years and about 99 percent of the schools do not follow the rules and regulations framed by the Governments, said E Anandh, District President of the Federation. Obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State government, the schools affiliated to CBSE neither followed the rules and regulations laid down by the State government nor the Board, he added. 

Saying that the school charges more than Rs 50,000 per student as fees, the parents said that CBSE schools refused to consider the recommendations of private schools fee determination committee. When the committee insisted, the schools obtained a stay order from the High Court and the State government did not follow it up with the Apex court till date, said parents.

As per the guidelines of the Board, the schools were supposed to discuss with the School Management Committee (SMC), which also included parents, whenever they increased the fees. "There is no regulating body at the school education level as far the CBSE schools are concerned,"  the parents said, demanding the government to bring in a regulatory body to assess the quality of the schools, apart from regulating the fee structure.