Agitators to form parents' groups in all 60 wards

DEHRADUN: Shouting slogans against the “loot” that private schools indulge in, agitated people gathered in a procession that went around the city court and sat on dharna outside the office of the district magistrate’s office on Tuesday.
The protest was conducted under the banner of ‘People’s struggle for education movement’. The movement was started in February by the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch (UMM).As many as 30 citizen groups have come forward to fight the battle against what they term “extortion” by the city’s private schools.
State convenor of UMM Kamla Pant told TOI, “Over 500 private schools exist in the city. Till the time guidelines are not set for them, they will continue their loot. We have called a meeting of all citizen groups on Wednesday to take a decision on our next step. We can’t go on protesting in front of every other school.”
She said that the group had handed a memorandum to the district administration, seeking action against the schools. The campaign would intensify in coming days, she said.
The citizens’ groups plan to have committees in each ward to take note of problems parents face. “We might set up parents/citizens group committees in the sixty wards of the city. This way, if all the wards are equally involved, we might be able to raise the issue to such a level that the state government and the administration will have no option but to come forward to address the issue,” said Sanjay Bhatt, an AAP member supporting the agitation.
One committee has already been established, in Banjarawala, on the outskirts of the city. Kamla Pant, however, said the name and role of these committees were still to be settled.
A parent present during the protest, unwilling to be identified by name, said, “We cannot always come forward and raise these issues ourselves for fear our children might be affected. We fully support the movement, and will be involved in these committees.”
The protesters claim that there are hikes in school fees almost each year; there is also pressure to buy books and uniforms from certain select shops, making sending a child to these schools enormously expensive.