Parents want regulation of school fees: Survey
New Delhi, July 3: A survey has found that 93 per cent parents want annual fees charged by the private schools to be a capped at one month of tution fee.
"Schools adopt various ways to hike the total fees. While the tuition fee may not be hiked, all other fees like annual/admission fee are raised indiscriminately by the schools. Hence, when asked whether this fee, under the head of annual or admission fee, should be limited to one month of tuition fee, 93 per cent of the citizens agreed," the survey by LocalCircles revealed.
For the survey, the LocalCircles community social media platform received over 58,000 responses from over 21,000 parents in 215 districts in the country.
The survey also focused on the ways to regulate school fee hikes, with the majority of parents (54 per cent of 13,317 votes) feeling that the percentage of hike should be linked to inflation.
One of the biggest arguments given by schools for raising fees is to enhance the quality of education or maintain it but in the polls, parents do not seem to be convinced of this line.
Almost 77 per cent of 7,205 parents say that capping of fees would not affect the quality of education.
In the survey, a majority of parents have also suggested that it should be made mandatory for all schools to publish their annual statement of costs on their website.
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13 lakh litres of 'Rail Neer' supplied to train passengers daily: Government
New Delhi (PTI): Approximately 13 lakh litres of packaged drinking water -- 'Rail Neer' -- are being supplied to train passengers across the railway network daily, the government informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.
Apprising the Lower House about the Indian Railways' endeavour to provide safe and potable drinking water facilities at all stations, the government also provided zone-wise details of the water vending machines (WVMs) installed there.
"To ensure the quality of drinking water being made available at the railway stations, instructions exist for periodical checking and required corrective action to be taken.
"Regular inspection and maintenance of drinking water facilities is carried out and complaints are attended to promptly," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while responding to a question raised by BJP MP Anup Sanjay Dhotre seeking to know the supply of drinking water at railway stations across the country
"Complaints regarding deficiency in services, including water supply, are received through various channels such as public complaints, web portals, social media, etc. These complaints are received at various levels, including the Railway Board, zonal railways, division office, etc.," Vaishnaw said.
"The complaints so received are forwarded to the concerned wings of Railways and necessary action is taken to check and address them. As receipt of such complaints and action taken thereon is a continuous and dynamic process, a centralised compendium of these is not maintained," he added.
Providing zone-wise details of water vending machines, the minister said 954 such machines have been installed across railway stations.
"The Indian Railways also provides safe and affordable packaged drinking water bottles -- Rail Neer -- approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in trains and at stations," Vaishnaw said.
"Approximately, 13 lakh litres of Rail Neer are being supplied per day to the travelling passengers in trains and at stations across the Indian Railways network," he added.
