JAMMU: The Private Schools Association, Jammu Chapter, held a meeting here on Saturday to discuss the challenges being faced by the State Board Private Educational Institutions across the district.

The meeting witnessed the participation of key office bearers including Lal Chand Gandotra (District President), Deepak Handa (Sr Vice President, JKPSA), Sanjeev Luthra (Treasurer), Vijay Sharma (General Secretary), and numerous Principals and School representatives from the Jammu District.

Lal Chand Gandotra outlined the formal agenda which included crucial discussions on management committee approvals, simplification of NOC-related processes, and the need for equal representation in state-level educational bodies.

A major concern raised was the lack of a single-window mechanism for securing mandatory No Objection Certificates (NOCs) during affiliation, as well as the heavy fines imposed for delayed submission of fees under various administrative heads. Members stressed the urgency of having a Private School Association representative inducted into the Fee Fixation Committee, given the sector's substantial contribution to education delivery.

Further, the problems related to CID verification, portal outages on the Directorate of School Education (DSEJ) site, and unequal certification periods-where Building Safety Certificates in Jammu are issued for one year versus five years in Kashmir were highlighted.

Dr Handa proposed several strategic measures, including the creation of district-level central offices for streamlined NOC follow-ups, annual rotational representation in the Fee Fixation Committee, and the appointment of a common legal counsel for schools under the Association's umbrella.

Deepak Handa stressed the need to work together and encourage all school owners/principals in their surroundings to be a part of the Private Schools Association.

Sanjeev Luthra Treasurer JKPSA, highlighted the work done by the PSA in Kashmir during their meetings with the Principal Secretary Hr Education Deptt.

The meeting was attended by Deep Dayal, Bindiya Maitri Jain, Danish Kapahi, Sanjeev Gupta, Gaurav Sharma, Raj Kumar Sharma, Karuneshwar Gandotra, Ashok Sharma, Neeru Puri, Usha Jamwal, Santosh Sharma, Naresh Kumari, Raj Dulari, Paras Ram, Nure Mohd., Rajdev Singh, Vivek Chauhan, Anil Bhanotra, Ankur Gupta, Arjun Mahajan, Pramod Kapahi, Ram Sarup Bali, Shashi Sharma and others.