Ahmedabad: Four private schools have been penalized for allegedly compelling students and their parents to purchase school essentials such as uniforms, books, bags, and stationery from specific shops. After receiving several complaints, the Ahmedabad District Education Officer (DEO) served notices to the schools. Upon reviewing their unsatisfactory responses, the DEO imposed fines ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹25,000.

The schools penalized include United Valley School (Vastral), Suffah School (Kalupur), Muktajeevan English School, and Nelson Primary School (Maninagar). These institutions were reportedly insisting that parents buy educational materials only from particular vendors and were recommending books published by private firms instead of the officially prescribed NCERT or GCERT textbooks.

Among these, United Valley School, Suffah School, and Muktajeevan English School were each fined ₹10,000. Nelson Primary School, however, faced a steeper penalty of ₹25,000 due to a more severe breach, with sources claiming that the school continued to pressure parents into purchasing privately published books despite the official warning. DeshGujarat