Run bulldozer on edu mafia: Parents

NOIDA: Scores of parents in Greater Noida (West) on Sunday stood on an earthmover to protest against the “arbitrary” fee hike in fees by private schools and demanded the Uttar Pradesh government run its “bulldozer” on “education mafia”.

The parents also decried schools levying huge amounts as transportation charges and prescribing books from private publishers instead of the more affordable NCERT books. On April 17 also, several parents, under the banner of the NCR Guardians’ Association and the Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA), had protested and symbolically polished boots on a roadside.

The protests against a UP government order last month allowing private schools to hike fees come at a time when the state’s “bulldozer campaign” against encroachment and anti-social elements is in the limelight.

NEFOWA president Abhishek Kumar said after the symbolic “boot polish’ protest two weeks ago, the protesters had submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate to be sent to CM Yogi Adityanath. “But till now there has been no reply. Parents are already troubled by inflation and they will continue the agitation till the government withdraws the fee hike,” Kumar said.

Sukhpal Singh Toor, president of the NCR Parents Association, said school fees was increased assuming the pandemic was ending, but cases are once again on the rise.

“Schools are again closing for offline education. The fee hike should be reversed,” Toor said.

Parents will continue the agitation till fee hike is withdrawn. ABHISHEK KUMAR, NEFOWA president