The Doon Mozaic (Hypocrisy in Education System of Uttarakhand) Hypocrisy in Education System of Uttarakhand | Page 11

guardians to any screening. Any school contravening the provision shall be punished
with fine which might extend up to ten times the capitation fee charged. Unfortunately,
it is a fact that government has failed to enforce the law congruously. In spite of having
such a hard-hitting law against the donation practices at school, it still exists and pre-
vails under the table, away from the public’s conscious eyes, marking its roots deep
inside; this makes the issue tough, very tough indeed, but not impossible to pull it out
and throw out the system. In the rat race to get their child the best education availa-
ble, parents stoop down to any level to get their child through the best of their
known education institution and taking advantage of the helpless parents the
schools charge them huge sums. A very reputed school at Dehradun had been in the
headlines of the local newspapers lately for a quirky rise in the school fee. The par-
ents alleged that the school authority does not have a bank account and demands the
fee only in cash. They have been charging huge amounts for a long time. Parents of
a class six student of Summer Valley accused the school of charging the fee as fifty
thousand and showing the same as twenty thousand in the income tax return papers,
the rest amount goes in black. St. Joseph's Academy,Another renowned school
asked for huge sums as donation for the admission in kindergarten. It’s quite sad-
dening how the schools and teachers have turned themselves into money making
institutions, keeping the future of this young state and the country at stake. Howev-
er, the school authorities are not the only ones to blame; the parents and commoners
are responsible equally. It is a human tendency and bitter truth of the times that one
takes advantage of the weak and it is absolutely wrong if you give it a push for your
personal interests. People should not forget that the children they have been doing it
all for, bribing to mold and shape the future, learn the same things from them. Ap-
parently, we have some way or the other contributed to the bribery, keeping the
future of our generations at stake. To my shock, in spite of knowing the wrongs we
have been doing the same things time and again, because to us, vanity comes before
anything else.
The truth is that getting procedures and systems right is a much harder task, requir-
ing marshaling of resources to address shortcomings in the present systems. It’s