Srinagar, Nov 4: As a new academic session begins in Kashmir, parents are once again caught in the familiar ordeal of private schools dictating where and what to buy, forcing them to purchase textbooks from selected bookshops at exorbitant rates that run as high as Rs 7000 a set. What should mark the start of learning has, for many, turned into a season of financial anxiety and frustration.

Parents say this exploitative practice, in place for years, continues unchecked as the School Education Department (SED) fails to act against the schools accused of fleecing them under the guise of “academic standards.”

A receipt shared by a parent revealed that a single set of textbooks costs nearly Rs 7000. Parents allege that schools compel them to purchase the books only from particular shops, lea

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