The government’s proposed education reforms, particularly the no-detention policy and the pay parity for teachers has met with resistance from parents and teachers

Parents and teachers held a protest meeting at Jantar Mantar on Thursday to discuss the shortcomings of the State government’s proposed amendments to Delhi School Education Act 1973.
The Aam Aadmi Party government’s proposed education reforms, particularly the no-detention policy and the pay parity for teachers has met with resistance from parents and teachers.
Some clauses about the refunding of fee have also been criticised by parents who came together for a meeting through the All India Parents Association, an umbrella organisation which addresses the woes of parents across the country. According to it, the fee regulation Bill is not strong enough as it has many loopholes.
The proposed amendment has several loopholes, said a parent, adding, as to the clause about the refund of fee, now, it can only be done if 20 or more parents complaint about excess fee. No action can be taken on the basis of a single parent’s complaint. “Also, the penalty that the schools will be paying to the government for any irregularity will go from the student’s fee, so how is it helping us?” asked the parent.
AIPA is now planning to send parents to take up the issue with local MLAs of their areas and discuss. “This meeting was a starting point to chalk out plans for such anti-people decisions. We will further unite our volunteers to take up the issue with local MLAs in their area so that the government can realise that their decision is not going down well with people,” said Khagesh Jha, a member of AIPA.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia defended the government’s move saying, “There were some problems with the way private schools in Delhi were functioning and there was an immediate need to address it, which is why we have proposed amendments to the Education Act. However, we are not forcing it upon schools, once the Bill is tabled, the schools can have a discussion with us about it,” Mr. Sisodia said during an event.