DEOs in bind as parents clamour for action against CBSE schools

Hyderabad: The District Education offices (DEOs) are flooded with complaints from the parents complaining against private schools who are mounting pressure on them to enroll their wards for online classes and pay fees.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior official from the Hyderabad District Education Office (DEO) said, "Parents are lodging complaints alleging their children are not able to cope with the online schooling. But, the private schools affiliated to the CBSE claim that they have instructions to conduct classes for students from Classes I to X."

Since there are no specific guidelines at the State level to deal with such issues, "We are finding it tough to take action against the CBSE schools in response to the complaints from the parents," the official said.

The private schools affiliated to CBSE are citing a circular of the Central Board issued on April 25, 2020. Thus, asking parents to pay the fee since they are commencing classes for the academic year of 2020-21.

The circular in question says that it might take some more time for the normal functioning of the schools due to the lockdown.

However, the protracted suspension of schooling not only disrupts the continuous growth of students but also causes a rapid loss of previous knowledge and skills gained earlier.

For this reason, it said that all schools must "engage with students through online or teleconferencing means to maintain their rhythm of learning".

As part of the engagement, it has asked the schools to adopt an alternative calendar developed by NCERT for students of Class I to X. However, the CBSE has mandated its affiliated schools take every precaution to maintain the right balance for the mental and physical well-being of students and the significantly increased screen time. That apart, it also asked its schools to reiterate guidance to parents and students about the safe use of online tools, social networking, television and video gaming.

But, the DEOs of the TSSED say that the complaints of the parents show that the schools are not following any guidelines.

Instead, another official said, "It seems the schools are more interested in exploiting the vulnerability of the parents' about their children's education and insisting on payment of fees in the name of launching online classes," she added.

What is more shocking is that some TSSED affiliated schools are trying to adopt this trend to seek fee payments by launching online classes after seeing the CBSE schools collecting the fee and running the classes.

However, on receiving a complaint from a parent the District Education Officials slapped a show-cause notice on a school in Malkajgiri, asking it, to explain, as to why its affiliation should not be cancelled, for violating rules. Also, the school premises have been sealed, the official said.