E-Paper
Schools cry foul after Punjab School Education Board orders them to pay for its DTH lectures
The amount demanded from schools goes up to Rs 8,400 depending upon the level of education offered
Patiala The Punjab education department has ordered all 10,000-odd private schools, affiliated to the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), to pay a one-time yearly ‘contributing amount’ to fund broadcast of online lectures that the state board prepares on Direct-to-Home (DTH) format on Doordarshan channel. The amount demanded from schools goes up to Rs 8,400 depending upon the level of education offered.
Puneet Sehgal, programme head Doordarshan, said, “The education department is broadcasting lectures from 9am to 4pm. We charge Rs 2,800 for 30 minutes. As they are our major customers we give them one hour for free.”
The order, in the regard, issued on Tuesday, reads, “Punjab is struggling with economic and social crisis due to covid-19 pandemic.The study of children is being affected due to closure of schools. Therefore, lectures related to syllabus of all classes of the PSEB will be broadcast by education department. So, the decision of taking contribution money in one go from these schools was taken in a meeting held on May 15 by board.”
According to the order, senior secondary schools will have to deposit Rs 8,400; high schools Rs 6,000; middle schools; Rs 2400 and primary schools Rs 1,200. The money has to be deposited in one go. Last week, the government announced that government schools in the state will not charge any admission, re-admission and tuition fee from students for the 2020-21 academic session due to the covid-19 crisis.
Punjab director general school education, Mohammad Tayyab, who is also the PSEB secretary, said, “The syllabus of affiliated schools is the same as government schools. We have, therefore, extended the service for them too. It’s just a minimal amount.”
Jatinder Singh Narula, president, Affiliated Schools Welfare Association, Patiala, said, “We never asked the Punjab government to broadcast lectures on a DTH channel. State government has announced that it will not collect any fee from government school students. Now, to meet their expenses, they are forcing us to pay.”
Ravinder Singh Mann, president, Recognised and Affiliated Schools Association, Punjab, said, “We are not ready to pay. We will try to reason with the government first. If this fails, we will move court. The government cannot take such major decisions without our participation.”
Hardeep Todarpur, teacher, Government Senior Secondary School, Kakrala, said, “Practically it’s not possible to provide education to students via broadcasting lecture on DTH. The majority just stays away, only the few intelligent ones attend this lecture.”
Patiala DEO Harinder Kaur said, “We are broadcasting lectures on DTH. Every student can avail this service whether he is studying in private or government schools.”
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