AGUSPA demands national law to govern unaided schools

MARGAO, SEPT 6
Chairman of the All Goa Unaided School Parents Association (AGUSPA) Nisser Dias has underscored the need for a national legislation governing the functioning and administration of private unaided schools.
Dias said that unlike the Maharashtra Education Act, The Goa School Education Act has several provisions protecting the interests of parents. He has pointed out that section 19(3) of the Goa School Education Act 1984 which is similar to the Delhi Education Act, stipulates that private unaided Schools in the state need to file their fee structure with the Director of Education for approval before the ensuing academic year.  It also states that the manager of the school which violates this provision is liable for imprisonment for a period of 6 months and fine amounting to Rs 50,000. He further added that as per the provisions of the Goa School Education Act, Recognized Private Unaided schools have to file their audited accounts statements before the DoE which in turn has to further audit these audited statements.
Dias pointed out that private schools have violated the provisions of the Goa Schools Education Act with impunity for years now and the DoE has been a silent spectator allowing the managements of these schools to exploit the parents. He further claimed that private schools in the state have transferred huge sums of money collected from parents to the Society, Mandals or Trust, in complete violation of the provisions of the Goa School Education Act 1984.  
Referring to the recent decision of the Bombay High Court with regards to the private schools in Mumbai, he said the provisions in the Maharashtra Education Act are different from that of Goa Education Act and as such the High Court verdict went against the parents. “As against this, the Tamil Nadu government went ahead and enacted a special legislation in November last year to regulate the fees of private unaided schools in the state called the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of collection of fees) Act 2009 , which was upheld by the Tamilnadu High Court”, he said.
Saying that the courts have passed different verdicts based on the existing law of the state as the laws in various states are different. Dias stressed on the need to have uniformity in law throughout the country.