Punjab Government issues notice to 30 private schools for charging students, parents high fees for books

Punjab Government issues notice to 30 private schools for charging students, parents high fees for books


Punjab Government has launched a probe to investigate complaints against privateschools. On April 1, 2023, the Punjab Education Minister announced the setting up of the Education Minister Task Force. After two days of investigations, the task force has issued notices to 30 schools for allegedly "looting" parents and students in the name of books and funds.

Taking to Twitter, Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains announced that the task force had received over 1600 complaints within 24 hours. After following and verifying these complaints, 30 private schools were issued notices.  

Education Minister Bains shared that a letter has been issued to all private schools in the state through all District Education Officers. The DEO's were asked to inform these schools to follow the instructions set by the state government regarding books, copies, fees and other funds.

Owners and management of the private schools have been instructed to teach only NCERT books. Incase any increase in fees takes place, the concerned government officials need to be informed by April 30, 2023.

In 2022, the Punjab Government had stated that private schools cannot force students and parents to buy books, uniforms and ither items from select shops. Since then, schools in towns were required to given parents list of 3 to 5 shops from where they can purchase the items. Schools in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar were required to submit a list of 20 shops to the parents.

The Education Minister Task Force was formed by the Punjab Government to look into the excessive funds asked by private schools in the name of books, copies and more.

As per the official statement issued by the government, the task force would comprise of three principals from each district. The main objective of the task force is to look into the complaints raised by parents and submit a report to the regulatory authority.

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