NITISH Govt to streamline private schools

PATNA: Bihar is attempting to do what even the mighty metros haven't been able to pull off — streamline private schools and make them follow the rulebook. Already 50 schools in Bihar have entered into an agreement with the human resource development department which says this is just the beginning. According to the agreement, 25 per cent of the seats would be reserved for poor students, tution fees will not be arbitrarily hiked and at the time of admission, students who do not make it will be refunded registration fees. Besides, these schools have also agreed to admit students who live within a radius of five kilometers to promote the neighbourhood school concept. In return, the state government plans to recommend CBSE affiliation for these schools. As of now, these 50 schools either follow the ICSE board or Bihar School Education Board. Private schools in Delhi rarely have a policy on fees, reject and admit students at their own whim and under no circumstances refund registration money to unsuccessful students. Besides, almost all schools have their own buses to ferry students from as far as 20 kilometres. The situation is much the same in other metros. In Kolkata, barring the schools run by Christian organisations, no private school admits a student who cannot afford to pay full fees.

Human resource development commissioner M M Jha said, "At the moment, schools which are falling into step are the ones that need CBSE affiliation. We have decided to recommend affiliation to only those schools which agree to adhere to our rules." He said soon the government will work out ways of getting existing CBSE schools in Bihar to follow basic rules. He said, "We have discussed the matter with the CBSE chairman. As of now, there is no law to regulate existing private CBSE schools. We have also drawn his attention to the recommendations made by the Bihar Vidhan Sabha Committee in 2001 which said private schools were not following the CBSE norms." Jha said these rules were meant to boost the common school system in Bihar. "We want the concept of neighbourhood schools to come up. All children in a particular locality would have access to a school and even those who cannot pay would be welcomed to study there." He said the neighbourhood school system was prevalent in many developed countries and China. "By reserving free seats, poor students would be able to have access to quality education alongside children from wealthy families. This equitable treatment will enable children from varying backgrounds to grow up into adjusting, responsible adults," he said. An official said, "Right to Education became a fundamental right in December 2002. According to its spirit, there should not be two sets of rights, one for poor students and another for rich students. Just the way all citizens go to the same kind of polling booth to cast their vote and the same police station to register a complaint, children irrespective of their financial background should have access to the same type of education."