Parents slam pvt schools over hefty fee hikes
Hyderabad: Several private schools in the city increased fees by nearly 60 per cent this year, in violation of the fee regulation. Parents poured out their woes to pay the hefty fees in the new academic year and demanded that the government rescue them from the huge financial burden.
A few parents believe that schools are taking advantage due to a lack of fee regulation in Telangana, and along with charging hefty fees, many schools across the city has been coming up with several tactics to loot parents, as they are penalising them for minor delays in lumpsum payments made just three times a year. Several surveys reveal that the fees in private schools have been almost doubled in the past few years, and the government is not taking any steps to control the fee hikes. About 36 lakh students of the state are studying in these schools and the private educational institutions do not follow government rules and collect lakhs of rupees from students every year.
Recently, the Telangana Recognized School Managements Association (TRSMA) and Hyderabad School Parents' Association (HSPA) submitted several representations as there was lack of clarity on draft bill for Telangana Private Schools and Junior Colleges fee regulation and monitoring commission that was proposed by state government.
Venkat Sainath, organising secretary, HSPA, said, 'Every year, private schools are increasing the annual fees. This year, many schools have increased fees to 60 per cent, and a few schools have increased to 100 per cent. This is happening because there is no proper school fee regulatory framework. It will be better if the state government comes up with a regulatory commission that will have clarity on what schools can charge.'
The Right to Education Act is very clear about the setting up of private schools, the appointment of teachers, etc. It says that if the provisions mentioned in the schedule are not implemented, the recognition of the school should be canceled, if the capitation fee and donations are collected, the schools should be fined up to ten times, and if the entrance test is given to the children, fines of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 may be imposed. Also, this Act states that 25 per cent of the seats from the primary class in every school should be given to children from backwards classes, so we urged that public education should be strengthened in the spirit of the Right to Education Act and a fee regulation act should be made, he added.
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