Friday, March 18, 2016

CALL TO ALL POLITICAL PARTIES IN TAMIL NADU BY PARENTS OF SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN

RESOLUTION PASSED IN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING OF
THE STUDENTS’ WELFARE ASSOCIATION OF PARENTS, (SWAP), COIMBATORE
ON 11.03.2016

It is hereby resolved unanimously to raise the following demands before all organizations concerned with Education, before the All India Meeting of AIPWA to be held at New Delhi and before all political parties and to call upon the parents in Tamil Nadu to consider casting their votes to those parties which declare their support for these issues in their manifestoes:
1)   To enforce ‘Free and Compulsory Education to all children from the age of 6 to 14” as envisaged in Article 21A of the Constitution of India
[21A. Right to education.—The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine. ]
 without any dilution because, unless it is made free for all children, there will be discrimination in the amount paid as reimbursement between different children of different areas and different schools which is against the fundamental right to equality and also by not providing free education to all children, the Fundamental Right to Free Education is not fulfilled.
2)   Until the above is fulfilled, to ensure that every State has a Fee determination committee, under an Act of the Legislature, which will cover all private schools, and the parents are also heard before the fixing of the fees, ensure that the fixed fees alone is collected and bring all types of syllabus / schools under the control of the Chief Educational Officers of each District to enable complaint redressal of all school parents with regard to the above matter.
3)   Make rules to enable admission of children into schools on ‘Neighborhood school’ concept, through single window system.
4)   To strive to amend Article 21A of the Constitution by making it applicable for children from the age of ‘4 to 18’, considering the change in circumstances.
5)   Introduce uniform syllabus for all schools within each state immediately and for the entire Nation in a phased manner.
6)   Provide education up-to secondary level through mother tongue.
7)   Ban use of any additional books in schools, apart from the prescribed syllabus and prescribe maximum weight for school bags (including lunch bags)
8)   Enact legislation on educational qualification, pay and allowances and conditions of service for teaching and non-teaching staff in all private schools.
9)   Make PTA compulsory in all schools.  PTA to be formed by method of election and not selection. 
10)                Abolish the Board of Matriculation Schools in Tamil Nadu consequent upon the introduction of Samacheer Kalvi (Uniform Sylabus).