The legal intervention was much needed here. The admission fee was a serious issue. The schools would charge as much admission fee as they wished to leaving them out of reach for a substantial chunk of the population. The courts jumped in and declared any kind of admission/donation fee as illegal. A lot was expected from this decision of court but have things really changed?
In the scenario of admissions in the schools of the Valley, admission fee is still sought under various names like school development fund, environmental tour fund, school advancement fund, and whatnot. In short, the admission fee is still in existence. It is just that the nomenclature has changed, the soul has remained the same.
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It is not just a matter of affordability. It is a matter of being just and unjust. The private school underpay the highly qualified teaching staff. The administration of the majority of the schools have financial interests on mind driven by core capitalistic ideals. The enhancement of the society and the spread of education is the least of their concerns.
There are schools in Srinagar which gauges whether the parents are in white collar or not, seek proof of the financial strength of both the parents, and also want to determine to what level the child has learnt mannerism at home from the white collar parents. All this is to determine the financial and educational status of both parents and is regrettably considered a key metric of admissions. This is totally unjust and against the principle of equal opportunities to all as enshrined in the constitution.
The Courts must ensure that their orders are followed in letter and spirit and if any deviation is found anywhere a set of punitive measures must be put in place without any adieu.
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