Page 55 - EW November 2024

for education are being slashed.

Landmark fees regulation judgement.
Upholding two sets of appeals filed by the
Indian School, Jodhpur and Association
of Private Unaided Schools of Rajasthan
against the state government of Rajast-
han, on May 3, the Supreme Court read
down, i.e modified, sections of the Rajasthan Schools (Fees
Regulation) Act, 2016 (FRA). The appeals challenged an
order of the state government — upheld by the high court
— directing private schools to collect only 70 percent of tu-
ition fees — and no other — from parents for the academic
year 2020-21 since all schools had been under lockdown
Approved NEP 2020 release during the Covid pandemic and were teaching online. The
state government contended that private schools had not
GEC, NAC, HEGC have not been constituted. After writing provided co-curricular education and transport and other
the 484-page NEP draft, committees chaired by Dr. Kas- services to students, and therefore parents were not obliged
turirangan have drafted NCF-FS (National Curriculum for to pay for them. In a detailed judgement the Supreme Court
Foundational Stage) and National Curriculum for School bench held that the right to determine the fees payable by
Education (NCF-SE). But with Dr. K’Rangan suffering bad students is vested in every school’s “management alone”
health, all further work on writing curriculums for teacher by the apex court’s verdict in the T.M.A. Pai Case, and that
and adult education seems to have slowed if not halted. The the state government has no right to vary the terms of the
ground has been prepared for NCFSE, but the country’s contrac between schools and parents.
1.4 million Central government anganwadis have not re- EW comment. In an Education News report in the very next
ceived the funding and upgradation necessary to implement issue (EW, June) your editors welcomed the apex court’s
the NCF-FS in the government sector. While ECA (Early detailed and well-reasoned judgement as it “lays down im-
Childhood Association) and the country’s estimated 55,000 portant principles of law which are applicable countrywide.
private pre-primaries have welcomed NCF-FS, government It unambiguously affirms the right of school managements
sector pre-primaries which require Centre-State govern- to determine the total fees payable by parents and upholds
ment funding are in stasis. the sanctity of contracts between parents and schools”.
Likewise, in K-12 education while 30,000 upscale pri- Moreover with several state governments following Raj-
vate (and Central government) schools affiliated with the asthan’s example and succumbing to intensifying pressure
national CBSE and CISCE exam boards have begun imple- from parents demanding reduction of private school fees
menting pedagogy and curriculum reforms mandated by because of income and job losses suffered during the Co-
NEP 2020, the vast majority of schools affiliated with 52 vid-19 pandemic, “this landmark judgement is a slap in the
state examination boards are still stuck in the rote memori- collective face of the Central and state governments whose
sation pedagogies rut. And in higher education, the process officials believe that they have an unfettered right to inter-
of conferment of autonomy to even premier, top-ranked fere with contracts voluntarily negotiated between citizens,”
government and aided undergrad colleges by their massive wrote your editors.
parent universities has not begun, even as autonomous new
genre private varsities enthusiastically welcomed by your Common University Entrance Test. On
editors, are rapidly closing the gap with best offshore insti- March 21, University Grants Commission
tutions of higher education. announced a Central University Entrance
As a result, the teaching-learning standards gap between Test (CUET) for admission into under-
government and private education institutions is widening graduate programmes of all 45 Central
instead of narrowing. In the final analysis, it’s the conspicu- government universities (including Delhi
ous failure of the Central and state governments to raise University and affiliated colleges) from the start of the aca-
their annual outlays for public education that’s the root of demic year 2022-23. The objective: to lessen financial and
the problem. Unless this nettle is grasped, the backward- mental stress of school-leavers having to write multiple en-
ness of public education will persist. For instance in the trance tests of undergrad colleges, to free undergrad colleg-
Union Budget 2024-25, the Centre’s allocation for educa- es and universities from the stress of conducting their own
tion at Rs.1.48 lakh crore has declined as a percentage of entrance tests and eliminate the phenomenon of popular
GDP compared to 2023-24. Ditto in the states as govern- colleges notifying sky-high cut-off scores in class XII board
ment expenditure on populist freebies increases, allocations exams for admission into some study programmes.

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