The Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation and Higher Secondary Schools Welfare Association has urged the State Government to give more time for schools to comply with the set of 24 conditions laid down by the Transport Department to issue fitness certificate for educational institution buses.
A resolution to this effect was passed during a meeting of the association office-bearers held in the city on Saturday.
General Secretary of the association G. Krishnaraj told reporters that with the current academic year about to start on Monday, students and parents would be subjected to enormous difficulties if the school buses were kept off the roads due to vehicle checks by the Transport Department.
The private vehicles were also reluctant to transport school students as several conditions have been imposed on them also.
“While the schools are ready to comply with the norms, they need some more time as there are a lot of issues to contend with right now,” Mr. Krishnaraj said.
He also urged the expert committee, constituted by the State Government to fix the minimum land requirements for schools in Tamil Nadu, to submit their reports at the earliest.
The committee held a meeting in Coimbatore on May 28, in which many schools in the region urged it to relax the norms.
Till such time the committee gave its report, he said that the recognition of all the schools must be renewed rather than kept pending. At present, such schools were facing the threat of closure as the Right of Children To Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act prohibits schools to function without recognition.
Mr. Krishnaraj also called for the formation of a committee comprising various stakeholders in the education sector to sort out the multiple problems being faced by the private schools.
He also requested the Department of School Education not to compel school principals or headmasters to attend all its meetings as in small schools, they would have to double up as teachers also. The students would suffer if they frequently attended the meetings.
The association also urged the State Government to ensure departments such as Health, Fire and Rescue Services and Revenue Department expeditiously processed the applications sent by schools as their certification was important for renewal of recognition.
