BJP threatens to launch stir against abnormal school fees

Hyderabad: State BJP has threatened to launch a state-wide agitation to protest against State government's apathy in regulating fee in private schools. An action plan in this regard will be announced in two days.

Disclosing this at a round-table conference organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) here on Tuesday, BJP State president K Laxman said the party felt it has a social responsibility to fight on behalf of middle-class, lower middle-class and poorer sections against the backdrop of the State government failing to impose curbs on private school to ensure that they do not collect high fee."

Addressing the representatives of parents, students, academicians, Backward Classes welfare associations, private engineering colleges, private schools managements, he said the corporate school fee system is in the State, particularly in Hyderabad, is oppressive and putting pressure on the parents by squeezing money in the name of tuition, transportation, donation, books, stationery, dresses and various other kinds of expenses." Despite organisations like Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA), Telangana School Parents Association (TSPA) and other civic organisations had been protesting over the corporate school fee menace, the State government had not acted for the last several years, he added.

Similarly, there was no response from the government when the issues were highlighted in the State Assembly. Even the notices issued to 12 corporate schools following the pressure mounted had been withdrawn at the intervention of those in the power, he pointed out.

As per the data available, the average school fee in Hyderabad ranges from Rs 60,000 to Rs 4.5 lakh. This is against an average fee of Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh in Delhi, Rs 40,000 to Rs 90,000 in Bengaluru, less than Rs 40,000 in Chennai. Similarly, the fee collected by the prominent Delhi Public School is highest in Hyderabad than what it collects in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, he said.

Saying that the school fee had increased by 400 per cent in last ten years in Hyderabad, he said, "Yet, the State government is keeping under wraps the Tirupati Rao Committee report on the school fee regulation."

He said that the current corporate school systems are forcing parents to make rounds around MLAs, MPs and other leaders six months ahead of the beginning of every academic year for admissions of their wards in the schools.

Despite there are rules to the contrary, the corporate schools continue to prescribe their own syllabus, conducting admission tests even for two-and-half-year-olds for admission into first class. Terming the the whole corporate school system had gained the ground following the failure of the State government to strengthen the government schools.

Participants at the round-table conference spoke as to how the schools had been fleecing the parents in the name of admission and other fees and how there was no response from the authorities concerned.