Hunger strike to seek law on school fee

To protest against the state government’s failure in framing a law to regulate fee hikes in schools, Vivek Korde, president of the non-profit group Forum Against Commercialisation of Education (FACE), will be going on a hunger strike from January 15.

To protest against the state government’s failure in framing a law to regulate fee hikes in schools, Vivek Korde, president of the non-profit group Forum Against Commercialisation of Education (FACE), will be going on a hunger strike from January 15.

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Education minister Rajendra Darda had said in the winter session of the assembly that the government would introduce a bill on fee regulation in private and unaided schools in the next assembly session in March.

“For seven years, we have been agitating for a law to regulate fees through democratic means such as seminars, lectures and presentations to the government. But nothing has worked,” said Korde.

“We are left with no option but to go on a hunger strike,” he added.

One of the other motives of the hunger strike is to demand a change in the government’s definition of Economically Backward Class students.

The definition applies to those whose annual family income falls below Rs15,000, but Korde feels that the limit should be extended to Rs1 lakh. Transparency in the process of pre-primary and primary school admissions is Korde’s third demand.