Street Play and Begging March Staged at Baridih to Press for CBSE, ICSE Textbook Uniformity
Key Points:
- Demand raised for uniform textbooks across CBSE, ICSE and state board schools
- Bablu Jha flags re-admission fee and building fund charges as financial burden
- Agitation continues; street play staged at Baridih Gol Chakkar on Thursday
JAMSHEDPUR – Parents and activists in Jamshedpur pressed the Jharkhand government on Thursday to frame a state-level policy curbing arbitrary fee increases and repeated textbook changes by private schools, as a street play and a begging march were organised at Baridih Gol Chakkar to dramatise the financial strain on families.
A key demand raised by agitators was that all schools affiliated to CBSE, ICSE and the state board should be required to follow a single, board-prescribed set of subject-wise textbooks. Meanwhile, protesters argued that the current practice of different schools within the same board using different books forces parents to buy entirely new sets of books every year. Besides adding to household expenses, the practice, they said, creates educational inequality among students of the same board.
The agitation also called for an end to re-admission fees and building fund charges levied by private schools. Bablu Jha, one of the key voices in the movement, said these additional charges were compounding the cost of education year after year. He said middle-class and low-income families were bearing a disproportionate financial burden as a result.
On the other hand, the demand for a monitoring mechanism has been at the centre of the movement. Activists called on the state government to issue clear directives regulating fee structures and textbook selection in private institutions. In addition, they demanded the establishment of a surveillance system to ensure compliance and bring transparency to the education sector.
In Jamshedpur, the Jharkhand education department had earlier issued instructions for the formation of district and school-level fee regulation committees. However, protesters maintained that those measures had not been implemented effectively, and that parents continued to face unchecked demands from schools.
The street play staged at Baridih Gol Chakkar was part of a sustained public awareness drive. Moreover, the begging march was intended to symbolise the financial helplessness of parents who are compelled to meet escalating school demands each academic year. Parent groups have previously stormed schools in various parts of the city over similar grievances. Organisers announced that the agitation would continue in the days ahead.
