Last Updated on March 7, 2022 at 10:52 am
Since the schools were reopened in Jammu and Kashmir after a very long gap, parents and students have been facing many hardships related to transportation facilities. Huge pile of complaints was received by the private schools in Kashmir due to lack of transport facilities. Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) on Sunday announced a revised bus fare rate in a bid to strike a middle ground to solve the crisis.
PSAJK spokesperson said that previously in an attempt to provide tansport facilities to students at reasonable rates, schools used to merge the academic and transportation fee accounts together. But now the School Fee Committee has recommended that transportation and academic fee accounts should be kept separate ones, so one cannot subsidise transportation on the back of academic fee.
It said that secondly during the last three years most of school bus fleets and even that of private transporters has almost gone defunct.
The PSAJK informed it has fixed the bus fare rate as follows: Rs 1950 per month for 0-5 km distance and Rs 2450 per month for 5-10 km with Rs 45 hike for every additional km thereafter. “All schools have been directed to charge only 50 % during off periods extending to one month or more,” it said.
“Furthermore there will be only 50% transportation fee during non-operational period/winter vacations.”
Since the rates have been increased a lot of criticism and resentment is being faced by the school association by the parents.
The parent said that schools are openly looting parents and unnecessarily depriving students from getting education and government is also not favoring us.
Another parent said that private schools always look for their profit by putting parents in distress.
Another parent said that schools are looting in the name of quality education as student in one to two kilometers of radius around school has to pay a bus fee equal to the tuition fee.
