Private schools association strive for change

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation, CBSE and Higher Secondary Schools Welfare Association on Thursday put forth 33 demands to the state government, which included calls for awarding permanent recognition, abolishing the existence of the no objection certificate for CBSE schools and concession schemes for private schools.During their silver jubilee and state convention, the association also demanded revision of licence or recognition rules, land allotment for private schools, a proper inspection system sans bribery and corruption. Tamil Nadu governor Dr K Rosaiah was the chief guest at the function held at Kamarajar Arangam. He said, “India is progressing rapidly and the demand for more schools is also increasing rapidly. Every generation progresses and consequently undergoes numerous changes, so we aim to alter the structure of education to keep up with them.” He also emphasised on the need for teachers to update their knowledge in order to adapt to the contemporary society. Addressing the press, the association president A Kanagaraj, said, “The government should give us equal opportunities in order to provide children with good education. For this to be feasible, we need adequate funding and support. Thus, we have compiled these demands and submitted it to the state.” “The government still hasn’t provided the promised funding of Rs 150 crore to help below poverty level students to study at private schools. It is pending for the past three years,” he added. He also said the members had decided to take the matter to court if the funds were not released by May. Government school students are provided with free textbooks, notebooks, cycles, laptops and have subsidised exam fees. Similar schemes should also be introduced for private schools, they said.Bullet points: other demands madeAwards should be given for schools which show 100 per cent results in Class 10 and 12 exams.Give permanent recognition for schools that have been functioning for more than 10 years.Scrap the Teacher Eligibility Test for private school teachers.Conduct teacher training programmes for private school teachers.Introduce NCERT-based curriculum to surpass the CBSE model syllabus.