Parents have to buy branded items from schools or vendors; ‘loot’ going on for years, say activists

A parent of a Class IX student of Bishop’s School said every year, the school provides a “sack full” of school stationery. “Why will my daughter need so many pencils at this age? But her stationery kit has it. We have never received a list… so I don’t know what the cost of these books in the open market is… ,” she said.

At the Indira National School, text books are not sold on the school premises; instead, parents are directed to a bookstore in Aundh, the only one where the books are available. “These are workbooks customised by the school, so we have no option. But as far as notebooks are concerned, we noticed that the price of the school notebook… is much higher than the same notebook in the market…,” said another parent.

In fact, some schools have even developed websites to sell customised stationery and uniforms. The parent of a student at Poddar International School, Wagholi, was recently directed to http://www.shopforschool.in. “…they said visit this website… and order the kit…,” he said.

Some schools have even standardised bags and shoes. Shiv Singh, the parent of a student from a Mundhwa-based school, said the institute demands that students wear a particular kind of shoes, of an international brand, and has even specified a shoe store in Camp area from where these can be purchased.

Parents of DPS students said the school has not only made it mandatory to buy a certain type of stationery, but it also wants students to have a particular type of shoes, school bags and watches. “The shoes are from Adidas and customised… so we can’t find them in the market. The watches are from Timex… Last year, a theatre arts festival was organised by the school and all parents had to pay for it,” said a parent.

Recently, CBSE had warned affiliated school managements against indulging in “commercial activities of selling books, uniforms, school bags” on school premises or through specific vendors only. Even the state education department has issued several GRs and notices to this effect.

Dinkar Temkar, deputy director of education, Pune, who has received many such complaints, said that schools can’t make it mandatory for parents to buy stationery from schools, He added that buying branded shoes, or paying for school picnics or annual day events can’t be made compulsory. “The parents can lodge complaints with us,” said Temkar.

While calls to most school administrators went unattended, DPS Principal Neelam Chakravarty admitted that buying standardised shoes, bags and watches was compulsory, but claimed that this was done for the sake of discipline.

“There are parents who can afford all sorts of fancy bags and watches, but this is a school and we want to ensure discipline, so it’s mandatory for all students to have the same stationery. We don’t sell these things but provide our campus to vendors. As far as branded shoes are concerned, we have never received a complaint…,” she said.

Education activists say smaller expenses such as buying a dress for annual day, or a picnic, also add to the financial burden faced by parents. “In some schools, parents are asked to pay anything between Rs 500-1,500 for the annual day.

Parents are not allowed to take photos at these events and the school again earns a profit by selling pictures and videos. In many schools, co-curricular activities are mandatory. One school was charging Rs 2,000 for a monthly dance class… this loot has been going on for several years. In 2003, we had filed a PIL and next year, the court even gave an order against this… but it is not being followed. Soon, parents of schools across the state will file a fresh PIL in this regard,” said Jayant Jain, founder of the Forum for Fairness in Education.