No Parent-Teacher Panel In 70 Schools
GURGAON:
Seventy of the 183 registered private schools in the city do not have a
parent teachers association (PTA) to date, and only 10% of the
remaining 113 schools, which do have PTAs, conduct elections, an RTI
reply from the district elementary education office (DEEO), and data
from an online community have revealed.
The Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, make it mandatory for all schools to have an elected PTA so that all decisions, like fee hike, are taken with the consent of the association. An elected PTA should be formed by ballot voting, wherein four to five PTA members (including the president, secretary and executive members) are nominated and all parents are invited to cast votes.
According to nurseryadmissions.com, an online parent community with more than 1 lakh parents from Delhi/NCR, only about 6% of the total number of schools in Gurgaon conduct elections for PTA.
In contrast, 50-60% schools in Delhi follow guidelines on the formation and working of a PTA. This disparity can be attributed to the fact that Haryana, unlike Delhi, doesn't have a regulatory body to take action against private schools and managements that fail to comply with the norms.
"There is nothing called PTA in most Gurgaon schools. In most schools, members of the PTA are dummy candidates who act as a rubber stamp for everything the school management decides. It seems neither the authorities nor parents are concerned about it. The schools in the city charge four times the fees charged by other schools in the NCR. Parents are unconcerned, if they have the money, while authorities simply say private schools don't come under their jurisdiction," said Sumit Vohra of nurseryadmissions.com.
District education officer Manoj Kaushik said PTA played an extremely important role. "Major decisions should be taken with mutual consent of PTA and school management. It is therefore mandatory for all schools to have an elected PTA," Kaushik said. She, however, refused to comment on the RTI response as the issue concerns another department (DEEO).
Not only in fee regulation, PTA has an important role to play in deciding measures taken by the schools to ensure safety of children. "In absence of an active PTA, the school continues to do whatever it feels is right. The PTA's role is to see if all safety norms are put in place and followed," said Sudha Vasudev, an activist.
Meanwhile, parents claimed that most schools don't inform them about PTA elections, if there are any. "My children go to a school where a PTA has not been elected in the last six years. No circular has been sent to us informing about the voting process. We have never been informed about any PTA meetings," said Shakuntala Devi, a parent and a resident of Sector 10.
The schools, on the other hand, blame parents for being uninterested in the election process. "Every time PTA elections take place, we issue a circular to all parents. Not more than 30% parents participate in the elections. There are parents who don't even come regularly for parent-teachers meetings. Schools shouldn't be blamed for it," said a school principal, requesting anonymity.
For latest news on mobile and tablet, like TheSchoolPost's official Facebook page and follow us on Twitter to stay tuned to latest news About Nursery Admissions Session 2016-17.
Source- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/No-parent-teacher-panel-in-70-schools/articleshow/49681409.cms
The Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, make it mandatory for all schools to have an elected PTA so that all decisions, like fee hike, are taken with the consent of the association. An elected PTA should be formed by ballot voting, wherein four to five PTA members (including the president, secretary and executive members) are nominated and all parents are invited to cast votes.
According to nurseryadmissions.com, an online parent community with more than 1 lakh parents from Delhi/NCR, only about 6% of the total number of schools in Gurgaon conduct elections for PTA.
In contrast, 50-60% schools in Delhi follow guidelines on the formation and working of a PTA. This disparity can be attributed to the fact that Haryana, unlike Delhi, doesn't have a regulatory body to take action against private schools and managements that fail to comply with the norms.
"There is nothing called PTA in most Gurgaon schools. In most schools, members of the PTA are dummy candidates who act as a rubber stamp for everything the school management decides. It seems neither the authorities nor parents are concerned about it. The schools in the city charge four times the fees charged by other schools in the NCR. Parents are unconcerned, if they have the money, while authorities simply say private schools don't come under their jurisdiction," said Sumit Vohra of nurseryadmissions.com.
District education officer Manoj Kaushik said PTA played an extremely important role. "Major decisions should be taken with mutual consent of PTA and school management. It is therefore mandatory for all schools to have an elected PTA," Kaushik said. She, however, refused to comment on the RTI response as the issue concerns another department (DEEO).
Not only in fee regulation, PTA has an important role to play in deciding measures taken by the schools to ensure safety of children. "In absence of an active PTA, the school continues to do whatever it feels is right. The PTA's role is to see if all safety norms are put in place and followed," said Sudha Vasudev, an activist.
Meanwhile, parents claimed that most schools don't inform them about PTA elections, if there are any. "My children go to a school where a PTA has not been elected in the last six years. No circular has been sent to us informing about the voting process. We have never been informed about any PTA meetings," said Shakuntala Devi, a parent and a resident of Sector 10.
The schools, on the other hand, blame parents for being uninterested in the election process. "Every time PTA elections take place, we issue a circular to all parents. Not more than 30% parents participate in the elections. There are parents who don't even come regularly for parent-teachers meetings. Schools shouldn't be blamed for it," said a school principal, requesting anonymity.
For latest news on mobile and tablet, like TheSchoolPost's official Facebook page and follow us on Twitter to stay tuned to latest news About Nursery Admissions Session 2016-17.
Source- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/No-parent-teacher-panel-in-70-schools/articleshow/49681409.cms
Comments