In a recent turn of events, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) issued a series of directives sparking chaos and uproar within the private school community. Some of the challenging directives include the mandate for a universal curriculum for both private and government schools, tagging of students of schools on state land with nearby government educational institutions, and the prohibition of admission fees.
G. N. Var, the President Private Schools Association Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) emphasizes that the shared goal is to implement National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, however, discrepancies arise due to the government amending certain acts without consulting stakeholders or forming expert panels.
“This bureaucratic approach has led to chaos and misunderstandings,” Var said.
“Schools are currently in a phase of transition with the shift to the March session and other reforms, and these sudden orders without consultation have created practical hurdles,” he added.
In April 2022, the School Education Department of J&K issued a Statutory Order (SO) 177 in which it laid down conditions for private schools’ registration, recognition, and affiliation. It has been made mandatory for the private schools to obtain a no objection certificate (NoC) from Revenue Department regarding land use or 10-year lease deed upon which the school is situated. The SO also provides for de-recognizing those schools and taking over their management in case they fail to produce the requisite land title certificate.
Var explained that private schools need a ‘breathing period,’ as, according to him, a moratorium of a few years is essential to address non-academic compliances around transportation, obtaining NOCs from pollution control boards, land clearance, chemical safety certificates and more.
In an interview with Kashmir Observer’s Farzana Nisar, G. N. Var spoke in detail about the JKBOSE directives and why private schools are opposing them.
The board has issued directives for tagging of on-roll students of some private schools of Kashmir in view of ‘land and affiliation expiry issues’. What influence will this have on the operations of these schools?
Schools that have failed to secure the land title clearance or lease documents or have insufficient land are being tagged under government schools. Approximately 400 to 500 private schools, constituting around 25 to 30% of total institutions, are gradually facing closure due to the lack of renewed registrations. The question is if they are tagging the students, what about the hundreds of teaching and non-teaching staff. They will become jobless.
While the government asserts its commitment to creating livelihood and employment opportunities, the parallel reality is the potential deprivation of livelihoods for those associated with these now struggling schools. Notably, these schools primarily serve students from the economic and lower economic classes. Grants that were once provided by the government have ceased, further exacerbating the challenges faced by these schools.
Rather than offering support, the government’s actions seem to be intensifying the difficulties for these educational establishments. The eventual outcome may be a disarrayed education system, with an increase in school dropout rates and a decline in overall literacy rates.
Means determine the act, but the current administrative orders risk undermining the very foundation of the educational system, defeating its primary purpose. The crucial need of the hour is for the government to adopt a child-centric approach, prioritizing quality education over compromised solutions.
Given that the HC ordered the board to maintain the pre S.O-177 status quo and keep school registrations intact, does this suggest a lack of adherence to the court’s orders by the government?
For the first time, I have seen this blatant and open violation of court orders. Despite rulings from four different benches in nearly 30 cases, all clearly instructing the Education Department to issue Registration Returns (RR) to private schools and maintain their affiliation, recognition, and extension, the government appears indifferent to these directives.
This is a conspiracy where the only recourse seems to be returning to the court. However, pursuing legal action involves hiring lawyers and incurring additional expenses, a challenging prospect given the current weak economic situations of the schools.
What is the percentage of schools in Kashmir that are being impacted by these directives?
There are three major criteria that the government wants private schools to fulfill – schools on state land, those operating from rental buildings without a 10-year lease agreement, and schools with insufficient land. If all this is taken into consideration, nearly 80% of private schools will be compelled to cease their operations in the near future.
How difficult is it for private schools in Kashmir to acquire the lease agreement and the NoC from the government under the new regulations?
The prevailing norm in the region for lease agreements is typically limited to 11 months. Attempting to shift this customary practice to a 10-year registered lease agreement could face resistance from landlords who prefer simpler and more flexible notarized deeds. Convincing them to navigate the complexities of court procedures for the sake of the school’s requirements is challenging. Moreover, schools have been functioning on the same land parcels for decades; obtaining additional land to adhere to the directive is not possible.
There are reports of the Board of School Education refusing registration forms from students in schools on state land. When Kashmir Observer spoke to the Principal Secretary School Education Department, he denied these claims. Can you provide clarification on this matter?
They will keep denying it, but this is the truth. If RR forms of students were not halted, then questions arise as to why the education department released a list of 200 schools facing denial of registrations.
Talk us through the directions to prescribe only JKBOSE books for students in private schools.
The Board of School Education is a regulatory and examining authority. Now when the board will start selling books, it will get into the business, changing its role and mandate to a publishing authority.
This move threatens the autonomy of schools, contradicting the Supreme Court’s recognition of their autonomous nature. Parents choose private schools often for better-quality books from renowned publishers like Cambridge, Oxford, Macmillan, and Pearson, which the Board may struggle to compete with.CBSE-affiliated schools are granted the freedom to choose high-quality books, creating a potential disadvantage for other private schools. The shift also raises questions about the logic behind not utilizing established national boards like NCERT.
Despite a dismissal by the High Court, the matter is sub judice as it is challenged in the division bench. What if the division bench reverses the orders? It will again lead to chaos at that time.
Moreover, booksellers and schools in the valley have already placed orders for publishing books, and there is a clear expectation of financial losses due to the changes in the publishing landscape.
But many people have welcomed this move citing that schools receive commissions for recommending specific books.
Violation is a violation, and we don’t mind the government bringing in laws and guidelines in this regard. The government could consider ensuring transparency by asking schools to sell books in the open market. But curtailing the basic right of deciding on the quality of books is not acceptable. It is a move aimed at controlling classrooms through textbooks.
The Fee and Fixation Panel has warned schools against charging any admission fee. However there are some prominent schools reportedly charging capitation fees as high as 1 lakh per student. Who is to blame?
Firstly, the government is implementing laws in J&K that diverge from those in other states. Despite the Right to Education (RTE) Act mandating 25% of students receive free education, with funds allocated from the central government; it’s not enforced in the region. This is a dichotomy.
We need to understand that the only source of revenue for schools is fees. Schools need to be transparent about admission fees and other expenditures, however, the government’s restriction has led some schools, especially prominent missionary ones, to covertly collect huge amounts of fees. Interestingly, smaller economy schools are under more scrutiny than the bigger ones.
The reason is simple – ‘influence of bureaucrats’. Some of their children are enrolled in these schools, and due to connections with officials, they enjoy leniency. These schools also operate on state land, yet no one questions them.
Will these directives impact the finances of private schools?
Finances are being constrained from all sides, and soon these schools will become economically unviable. Most of the economy schools in our region are trust-run or community-based initiatives, and these are the ones majorly suffering. Government needs to intervene through logical and reasonable measures and address the ‘big names’ seriously if they violate norms.
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