What we can do to battle corruption in schools

A parent’s biggest dream is his child becoming successful. And at the basis of every success lies a solid foundation. This is the reason why KG admissions have such a hype around them. And this hype is not at all overrated.

This, here, is the story of every family.

Child is born.

He laughs & plays around.

He cries and poops around.

And then suddenly he’s 5 years old and it’s time to enroll him in a school. 

Playschool was all good but now the child has grown up and the parents naturally want his life to be good. A jumpstart: a competitive edge to make him stand apart from all the other kids. The parents are obsessed over his future, a future only a top school can secure.

And thus begins the rat race, running from one school to another just submitting forms. Then come the constant conversations with other parents & acting as if they were the ones who could make a choice.

Applications have been submitted all around and the fear has started to creep in. And with this fear the desperation.

Here come the “contacts.” “Bribe them & your son’s admission is guaranteed”, the other parents said. 

So they did. A shady place behind the school. They pay it all in cash. The bribe being obviously 10 times the school fees! But their only child being rejected just because they didn’t take the chance of risking their money was not a feasible option.

And so they do.

They wait.

It’s a long wait. They go for the interviews only to hear they have to pay the school fees first and only they can give the interviews, with no guarantee of the admission. 

 Eventually even the interviews are over.  They wait for a while. And then The letter arrives.

Their admission is rejected.

 It was all a scam. They have been cheated.

This story could have a different ending. They could have been selected. But at what cost? Even if they didn’t bribe, the exorbitant prices just to apply for enrollment in all those schools was all wasted.

Running a school has become a business. Unabashed corruption is rampant in schools. The idea of paying up before the student even gets an admission is absurd. But there is no control in this sector. The parents are scared, they have a lot to lose. The parent’s weakness is they’re emotional. And since no one’s taking about this, the schools have started taking advantage of this.

 There is absolutely no one overlooking them. It seems they have all the power and they are abusing it openly. It is just completely unfair.

So  the question of what we can do about it arises.

Firstly,  asking for bribes is a criminal offence. Parents should complain to the police fearlessly. Let’s wipe of all the “contacts.” 

The school fees have reached a new high. And the fees seem to increase every year. Asking for payment just to give the interview is too much. The only way to stop all this is to realize that schools have power because we admit our children in them. They run because of us. We have power. And it is high time for us to use our power to stop this evil corruption.