Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 01: (NNN):
Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has mooted regulation of the fee structure charged from the students and the salaries paid to the teachers in private schools operating in Manipur.
In a statement, secretary general of the students' body PC Newton pointed out that private school authorities have been charging exorbitant admission and tuition fee from the students although the teachers working in these schools are being paid only a pittance as salaries.
The State Government should take the matter very seriously and come out with a fix regulation for running private schools in the State like in other parts of the country, the statement suggested.
While admitting that the contribution made by the private schools in improving the standard of education in the State, the students' body observed that the private school authorities should not simply look upon education as a profit making business and exploit both the students and the teachers.
Now the situation has come to such a pass that even for admitting a young child in class 1, one has to shell out Rs 500 to Rs 700 on tuition fee as every month over and above others extra expenditure of uniforms, books, pen/pencil and exercise books, etc which are also being monopolised by the school authorities, the statement lamented.
On alleged exploitation of teachers working in the private schools, the students body pointed out that there is no service security for them apart from the fact that the amount of salaries paid to the teachers are very less and are not in consonance with the wage norm of the Labour Dept.
The students' body further alleged that private schools authorities are taking Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 from the teachers at the time of appointing them as security deposit.