To the HONOURABLE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA

Respected Sir,

I write to you seeking your gracious help on behalf of over 6,000 signatories currently petitioning the HRD ministry. And the reason I am writing to you is because I firmly believe you are a visionary who is committed to bringing about changes in the right direction, who is committed to bringing about justice. I would like to submit the following two petitions for your kind consideration:

 PETITION FOR REAFFILIATION OF NPS SCHOOLS BY CBSE

Honourable Sir, this is with respect to a matter very close to our hearts…..our school. Set up in 1959, the NPS group of institutions has been consistently committed to providing the best quality education through a team of highly dedicated and committed teachers ably led by our current Chairman, Dr. K.P.Gopalkrishna.

Prime Minister Sir, you started with a beautiful dream – of changing the face of the largest democracy in the world. Coming from humble beginnings as well, Dr. K. P. Gopalkrishna had the vision of changing the face of the education system in India. He is a visionary who has always functioned in an impeccable and transparent manner, never asking for a single paisa in donations, while building schools that are far-removed from caste, creed and religion-based education. Many fundamental changes like holistic and value-based development of students were introduced long before any of the boards of education thought of them. Challenges like undue pressures for admission and the burning down of a school building during riots were overcome with sheer determination and a focussed approach.

An inclusive approach provided education to the children of many of the Class IV employees of the institution. These children are well-settled and working for some of the top corporates in our country.  A consistent application of non-negotiable principles have ensured the creation of the best learning environment for the students. As a result, these students have gone on to win accolades at inter-school, state, national and international levels in a variety of fields. The alumni of our schools are not only high achievers in their respective fields, but, above all, have been carefully moulded into good human beings and responsible citizens of this country that you lead today.

Honourable Sir, I wish to state that the grandest of all celebrations in the life of a parent happens when they get an admission call from National Public School. Unfortunately, many of such parents’ dreams for our children’s future are short-lived. The Central Board of Secondary Education, under the able chairmanship of Shri Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, gave a press release on 6 September 2016, communicating the disaffiliation of 6 schools under the NPS group of institutions. This has left over 10,000 students and their parents in the lurch. While the CBSE has assured relief to students appearing for the board examinations until academic year 2017-18, the rest of the children have nowhere to go. Honourable Sir, we have only two options. If we continue in the same school, we hear that it is proposed to be converted into a state syllabus, which may not be an acceptable option for most parents. Alternatively, we may seek admission in CBSE schools in the vicinity. But the other schools surely do not have adequate seats to accommodate all of us and definitely do not have the NPS quality that has remained unmatched.

The students, parents and management of the NPS group of institutions are shattered and distraught at the sudden and arbitrary decision of the CBSE to completely abandon us. No show cause notice was served by CBSE, no explanation was sought from the schools and no opportunity to present the case was provided. This one-sided decision of the CBSE was solely based on the letter from the DPI. The first CBSE school in Karnataka, NPS has always been impeccable in its compliance with the CBSE norms and therefore this decision of the board feels like a bolt out of the blue sky.  

We would like to bring to your notice that on a visit to the NPS schools in 2007, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, current Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore, was so impressed by the school that he invited us to set up a school in Singapore, leading to the creation of NPS International, Singapore. Further, in 2013, NPS Singapore had been awarded the prestigious EduTrust Certificate for maintaining high standards in key areas of management and in the provision of education services. All these accolades from persons of renown in the international education community stand in stark contrast with the CBSE decision of completely alienating us from its very affiliation.

There have been issues faced by the school in the past because of denial of seats and we strongly feel that the sudden disaffiliation of the school is the result of some an adverse reaction by such disgruntled persons. Prime Minister Sir, after almost 60 years of building his dream brick by brick, our Chairman, at his age, is running from pillar to post in an attempt to protect his schools and all of us. Instead of receiving recognition for all his efforts in building a bright future for the students and the nation, it is extremely disheartening to watch him fight legal battles to defend our school.

Honourable Sir, we appeal for your much needed intervention in solving this dead-lock that is causing unimaginable stress in the minds of students, parents and management of the school alike. We would like to appeal for an unbiased and judicious enquiry into the matter which involves several entities like the CBSE, NCMEI and DPI Karnataka seem to be taking suo moto decisions. We would like to have the school granted the freedom of returning to an unstressed environment of teaching and learning guided by our very own Chairman, Dr. K. P. Gopalkrishna, who is irreplaceable to us.

 

PETITION FOR REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RTE ACT

The root cause of the CBSE disaffiliation of NPS group of institutions seems to stem from certain alleged violations of the RTE Act. Honourable Prime Minister, we whole-heartedly respect and commend the initiative taken by the government in providing education to each and every child in the country. It is the single-most important factor needed to help our country reach the pinnacle of success and development. But paradoxically, the Right to Education Act has, today, rendered 10,000 students devoid of the umbrella of quality education.

It is our very humble request, Sir, that the HRD ministry reviews the implementation of the Act at the block education officer level and at the school level, which may not be functioning as envisaged. Six years after its implementation, a critical examination of the effect of the Act on the functioning of government schools, private schools and minority schools might be warranted to assess if it is benefitting the actual children it was created to benefit and to what extent.

We are eager to meet and present to you a few humble suggestions that we believe would have a more far-reaching impact in support of the RTE Act. The suggestions look at not only the 25% of students who are required to be admitted into private schools but also the remaining 75% of the students left out in the government schools. Restricting the benefits of RTE to only a few students who gain admission into private institutions is not inclusive and leads to unscrupulous means of attempting to get such admission. We urge you to consider the benefits of having private schools adopt government schools and guide them in their governance, curriculum development, teacher training and administrative competence so as to enable the efficiencies of the private schools in having the maximum outreach to each and every child in this country. We will feel privileged to share with you our experience and expertise built over the decades to help formulate an effective policy for education in India. We seek an appointment with you on any day between 19 and 30 September, 2016 to permit us to positively contribute towards the development of quality inclusive education in our country, a cause we strongly believe in.

We profusely thank you, Honourable Prime Minister, for taking the time to read both the petitions and are sincerely hopeful of receiving your help in the two key matters discussed:

a.       Immediate issue – Withdrawal of disaffiliation notice issued by CBSE to the NPS group of institutions to restore teaching and learning.

b.      Long-term issue – Review of the implementation of the RTE Act and building a stronger nation.

In anticipation of a favourable resolution,

Shweta Pathak Chand

Member of the alumni and parent fraternity of NPS.