For Chembur resident Deepak Kanere getting his youngest daughter admitted to the pre-primary section of St Gregarous High School, located only next door, has drawn into a three-year long court battle.
For Chembur resident Deepak Kanere getting his youngest daughter admitted to the pre-primary section of St Gregarous High School, located only next door, has drawn into a three-year long court battle. When he first approached the school, Kanere was confident that his daughter would find a seat in the nursery section as his eldest daughter was already a student there.
"I was shocked when the school rejected my daughter's application without stating any reason," said Kanera. Even after three writ petitions filed in the high court, the school is yet to offer admission.
"Today my daughter has to travel for 30 minutes to reach her school even though there is a school right next door to us," he complained. Kanera is not the only one who is facing problems from pre-primary schools. The Forum for Fairness in Education, an NGO which takes up the complaints of parents, has been flooded with complaints from frustrated parents.
"The highest number of complaints are against the pre-primary schools that either demand huge donations or admit students arbitrarily, without considering merit. The sad part is that there is no regulatory body which should keep a tab on these schools. Thus there is no transparency in the procedures and the government is not taking any steps to remedy it," said Jayant Jain, president of the forum.
The Forum along with Federation of Parents and Guardians Association had filed a PIL in Bombay High Court in 2000. "The court order asked the state government to frame rules and regulations for the pre-primary schools. Since then we have been demanding for the set up of a regulatory body or a grievance cell, but nothing has been done, so far," said Deepak Dave, committee member of the Federation.
As the pre-primary section does not come under the purview of any government body, most institutions run unchecked without any control and supervision. "Most schools in our neighbourhood demanded donations, so we had to seek admission to a far away school. We are even contemplating of moving back to Delhi where there are better regulations," complained Asha Kishenkumar, a parent.
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