In recent past, the commercial activities of the private schools have attracted a lot of media attention in the Valley. It is now a well-known fact that many schools force parents to buy books and uniforms only from a particular shop. This way they earn some extra money from the sale of the books and uniforms which in turn are sold to parents at an exorbitant cost. A prominent missionary school in Baramulla was recently fined for selling textbooks through a single bookshop only. But the menace is not confined to a single school only. Many elite schools in the Valley themselves sell these books but no action has so far been taken against them. It is thus necessary that the action against schools shouldnt be initiated on a selective basis.
Also, forays into commercial activities isnt only thing that is wrong with the private schools: their arbitrary fee structure and for that matter the quality of their teaching itself is a great cause of concern. What is needed, therefore, is not only the regulation of their commercial activities and the fee structure but a comprehensive look at the whole system of private schooling in the state. The objective should not be more regulation of these schools but to ensure that they deliver quality education for which they charge heavily. Kashmir has witnessed an unprecedented growth of private schools and most of these lack infrastructure and adequately qualified staff. And even with schools which have the infrastructure, the quality of education is pits.
Private schools have tried to act as more disciplined and rigorous academic counterparts of the Government schools: regular class work, less holidays and more extra-curricular activities have been their hallmark. But so far as quality of education is concerned, there is little that sets them apart. They charge heavy fees from the parents and compensate it not by imparting good quality education but by showing off some style: bright uniforms and more extra-curricular activities. Education in these schools is about stage-management: loaded satchels, excessive homework and an endless supply of stationary which in turn is cleverly bound up with the business part of running a school.
The aspect of the school which gets least attention is the education, which in turn boils down to the recruitment of good teachers. The schools hire the disaffected educated youth who are willing to work for a pittance as a prelude to a much sought-after permanent government job. And most of them miserably lack the depth of knowledge to be good teachers. This malaise afflicts our educational system right through – from primary schools to the universities. Surprisingly, some of the franchise schools which have forayed into Valley in recent years are similarly afflicted: a large, imposing infrastructure but little depth in the all-important tuition part of their functioning. Even though, it is equally the job of parents to see that these schools provide the quality education they seek for their wards, government can help by forcing these institutions to pay well to the teachers which in turn will attract better talent.
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