Showdown on school uniforms likely

MUMBAI: With the new academic year set to begin, many parents are gearing up to teach several schools a lesson.
The parents are upset that certain schools continue to insist that uniforms and stationery be purchased from either the school or a store of its choice.
The stipulation stands in contempt of the Bombay high court order in April that schools cannot force parents to buy school supplies from a particular store, the parents contend.
"We have decided to make a representation to the deputy director of education Madhav Deshle demanding that schools disregarding the high court order be taken to task," said Jayant Jain, the president of the Forum for Fairness in Education, the NGO that filed the public interest litigation challenging the schools'' diktats.
The forum''s office has been flooded with complaints from aggrieved parents about schools issuing circulars on purchases.
"Though most of these circulars were issued before the HC order was passed, the schools have made no effort to inform the parents about the change,"Mr Jain said.
For instance, this newspaper recently received a complaint from a parent alleging that the St. Xavier''s High School, Dhobi Talao, was charging more than the market rate for uniform material and stationery.
A school circular, dated March 19, clearly states, "It is compulsory for every boy to buy uniform material from the school."
When the parents tried to reason with the school authorities, they were told that the school had already purchased the fabric, so they would have to buy it. School officials were unavailable for comment.
Parents of students studying in Fr Agnel School, Malad (West), had a peculiar complaint. A few of the school''s prescribed text books, published by New Light Guide publishers, are only available at a book store in Malad (East).
But the shop owner refused to sell the publishers'' books alone, and insisted that parents also buy other books like dictionaries, a parent alleged.
Other schools have asked parents to purchase notebooks with paper of 70 gsm (grams per square metre), a standard that measures the thickness of a sheet.
"This is absurd because hardly any manufacturers use 70 gsm paper for making notebooks," Mr Jain said. "In fact, the notebooks sold by the schools concerned are also not of the same quality."
The forum has compiled a list of complaints against several schools, including Auxillium Convent, Wadala; Durelo Convent High School, Bandra; and Mangubhai Dattani Vidyalaya, Borivli (West).
It will present these to Mr Deshle, the official in the education department.
"We are prepared to re-approach the court if we fail to get justice from the government," Mr Jain said. Mr Deshle was unavailable for comment.