Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 25: The Private School Association today called for a long-term, stable policy for the education sector, warning that frequent changes in regulations are hurting students, schools and the community.
Addressing a press conference, President of the Private School Association, Baba Nazrul Islam said, “We want a systematic programme for the next 30 years for our schools and our education system. We want SOPs and regulations, but they should be stable, community-friendly, and student-friendly. We do not want every new chair to change the rules.”
Citing the decline of BEd colleges and students moving to other states for graduation, he said the education ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir needs a structural overhaul. “We need an ecosystem that has strong rules and strong regulations but is in consensus with the private sector. We cannot frame regulations that do not get implemented later,” he added.
Nazrul also stressed that private schools should be treated as “knowledge partners” rather than managed through what he called “event-oriented firefighting.” He urged the Government to constitute a committee of all stakeholders to design a long-term policy.
He noted that Government schools and private schools serve nearly equal numbers of students, about 14.5 lakh in Government institutions and 13 lakh in private, but said both sectors should be regulated under the same framework. “NEP recommends a statutory body to oversee both Government and private institutions. We are being judged by the Government, which is also a player. That needs to change,” he said.
On the ongoing controversy regarding private publishers, Nazrul called for transparency in book availability and pricing. “Keep the books available in the open market. We want the board to approve publishers, negotiate pricing and quality, and place the list on the government website so there are no complaints.”
He said elite private schools already maintain high benchmarks and support systems and warned that the system should not “collapse next year again in June, August, September, or November” because issues remain unresolved.
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