Quality education will always be costly

I was aghast when I recently read about how parents agitated against recent hikes in unaided school fees and forced students not to attend classes in Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. School buses were stopped and students asked to boycott classes.

Yes, I agree that parents have the right to protest, but at what cost? By roping in students to join in a protest? By taking to the streets like storm troopers or by courting arrest, what standards are they setting for their children?

If the future(s) of tomorrow imbibe a mindset where they think they can drive home a point by obstructing work, it doesn’t augur well for the country — least of all Mumbai (where there are more than 500 private unaided schools) and which sets the benchmark in levels of excellence in diverse fields, including education.

I value democratic values and civil rights as much as anybody else in this country. In the light of the honourable Bombay high court setting aside the government’s decision to restrict and regulate fee hikes in private unaided schools, if parents want reconsideration, there is no harm.

The only hitch is the road traversed to lodge protest. There is the path of dialogue and negotiation in which one needs patience. But impeding classes? That’s unacceptable.

What again is particularly disgusting is bringing in politicians to lip-sync as co-protesters.

Parents should realise that these turncoats can only offer lip sympathy and crocodile tears. Why let these chameleon-like characters meddle in a sacred arena like education?
Lastly, let’s admit we are not talking about some BMC-run schools. We enrol our children with schools of some repute and we consciously choose the “brand” of the school not for bragging in some cocktail party, but because we want to give them the best of education.

And the best doesn’t come free.
Unless teachers are well paid or given a remuneration as per the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, we can’t expect teachers to dish out quality knowledge for our kids.

Besides, let’s remember that the 2002 TMA Pai judgment of the Supreme Court forbade the government from restricting or regulating fees of private unaided schools. The apex court recognised the right of unaided schools to fix fees as an essential facet of their constitutional right.

By such forceful protests, are we sure about not working at cross-purposes? Today is the 141st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who popularised the brand of ‘peaceful protests’; let us not bring a bad name at least to the legacy of this great soul.