Page 18 - EducationWorld March 2022

Education News

2021-22). Now by asking vernacular also regulate schools.
schools to charge tuition fees to fund This goes against the
their expenses, the state government fundamental principle
wants to duck its obligation to pay of separation of powers.
non-salary grants. The fundamental reform
As we go to press, protesting school of NEP 2020 is that the
managements have agreed to allow roles of government as
the use of their schools as examina- provider and monitor/
tion centres for the class XII exams regulator should be sepa-
beginning March 4 following the rated. However the NEP
government’s assurances to fulfill all 2020 explicitly requires
demands. However, wary of the gov- the state government
ernment’s past reputation, the Maha- to constitute the SSSA.
mandal has threatened non-coopera- Therefore delegates at
tion during the class X examinations Symposium leaders: representation demand the symposium were
beginning March 15, if the govern- unanimous that the SSSA
ment doesn’t live up to its promise. ture headed by a Department of should include private school repre-
Dipta Joshi (Mumbai) Education in all states and Union sentatives because past practice has
territories for “overall monitor- been to pack regulatory bodies with
KARNATAKA ing and policymaking for continual retired politicians and bureaucrats
Real independence improvement of the public educa- who are sympathetic to government
tion system”. Operations and policy
and often hostile to private schools.
demand implementation falls within the Therefore, our unanimous demand
purview of the Directorate of School
is that SSSA is not entirely under
government control,” says Puttanna,
Education, while an independent
gainst the backdrop of State School Standards Authority member of the legislative council
Karnataka (pop.69 million) (SSSA), to be constituted by the state representing the Bengaluru Teachers
Abecoming the first state government, will set standards for Constituency.
countrywide to start implementing safety, security, basic infrastructure, xpert panelists at the symposium
the National Education Policy (NEP) teacher adequacy, financial probity Ehighlighted that the Indian K-12
2020 beginning with higher educa- and sound processes of governance education system is already governed
tion last September, the Karnataka (para 8.5). All schools are obliged by 145 State Education Acts, 101
Private School Managements Teach- to make full disclosure of informa- corresponding rules and codes (often
ing and Non-Teaching Staff Coordi- tion as per the (no doubt elaborate) running into 2,000 pages) apart
nation Committee (KPMTCC), which format prescribed by SSSA on their from the Right of Children to Free
has 7,000 member schools, hosted websites with SSSA empowered to and Compulsory Education Act aka
a two-day national symposium to adjudicate “any complaints or griev- RTE Act, 2009 which has transferred
deliberate the ‘Regulatory Architec- ances” arising out of the information part of the State’s obligation to pro-
ture of School Education Governance posted. vide free and compulsory education
as recommended by the National The galaxy of panelists including to children to private schools (s.12(1)
Education Policy 2020’ in Bengaluru Rajendra Singh, president, Inde- (c)).
on February 25-26. pendent English Schools Association Moreover under the RTE Act
The two-day symposium, which (Maharashtra), Dr. M. Srinivasan, school inspectors have been granted
attracted over 200 delegates includ- president, CBSE Schools Associa- wide powers to impose heavy fines
ing school promoters, trustees and tion (Karnataka) and members of and forcibly close down private
principals from 12 states country- the legislative council (MLCs) schools for violation of infrastructure
wide, and policy makers and govern- Puttanna and Arun Shahapur, norms prescribed in s.19 and Sched-
ment advisors, thoroughly discussed expressed apprehensions about ule of the Act. However government
the implications of implementing Chapter 8 increasing rather liberalis- schools are exempt from provisions
Chapter 8 — ‘Regulation and Ac- ing government regulation of private of s.19. Therefore, panelists and
creditation of School Education’ of schools and demanded that the SSSA delegates voiced strong opposition to
NEP 2020 — upon the country’s mandatorily comprise private school NEP 2020 vesting additional powers
450,000 private schools. representatives. in government controlled regulatory
Chapter 8 proposes an elaborate “The ministry of education which bodies.
K-12 education regulatory struc- operates government schools cannot Comments Shashi Kumar

18 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2022