School fee loot: Educationists moot school assessment and accreditation council to check fee loot

Prof. K Shankaraiah, former dean, faculty of commerce, head, chairman BoS and coordinator, UGC SAP DRS-III, Said “It will be better if the government takes steps to improve the infrastructure and for proper recruitment of teachers in government schools. They would attract more students from all sections and retain them, which will reduce the demand for private schools and ensure inclusive education. Another solution is rationalisation of private school fee based on investments made on infrastructure, teaching arrangements and minimum return on management’s investment, considering the educational requirements for quality education. To put a curb on fee hikes, it will be better if quality education standards (QES) are framed for fixing caps on investments in various facilities required in schools for providing quality education–standards for accounting, corporate governance, product, living, environment–to rationalise school fee.

‘Another most important solution is that it will be better if the State government takes a decision on establishing school assessment and accreditation council that may streamline quality education and fee rationalisation.”

Hyderabad: Noted educationists have suggested the constitution of a school assessment and accreditation council on the lines of other States, including Karnataka, to check ‘uncontrolled’ looting by private educational institutions in the form of hefty fee.

Thirupathi Rao, former vice-chancellor , Osmania University, said,” Through our committee we have submitted an elaborate report recommending a school must get approval from the State regulatory committee if they want to hike fee by more than 10%. Also whatever financial transaction that takes place should be transparent. Schools should not indulge in profiteering. In the report we have asked the management to submit audited documents so that the government could easily keep track of their accounts and initiate action against the management if it is needed. Why we have kept all this, as there are more than 11,000 private schools. If all schools accounts have to be scrutinised once in a while then it would be a hectic process. To avoid this and encourage schools self-regulate themselves and not to indulge in increasing fees abnormally. Once there is transparency and everything inv the portal and everything is through banks only and then it will be very difficult for schools to indulge in irregular practices. By and large school managements agreed. The fee hike issue could come into control , if it is implemented by the State government. At present many schools are increasing fee by 20-30%.

Prof PL Vishweshwar Rao, former principal, Osmania University College of Arts and Social Sciences, said as the government has constituted a committee for colleges they should also constitute a committee for schools. The school management should appear before the committee and justify charging so high. I am not saying all schools should have the same fee structure. Depending on their infrastructure, they should justify to the government. If we look at the Hyderabad private schools fee structure it is very high than other States. There must be some kind of gradation, as in colleges and universities, through the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, which grade the institution. But in schools we don’t have such a system.

Said Mohammed Abid Ali, overseas study adviser “In recent years, there has been a growing discourse around the escalating fee in private schools, sparking debates on whether it amounts to a form of economic exploitation. While private schools promise quality and personalised learning experiences, the exorbitant costs associated with it have become a point of contention. One of the primary issues at hand is lack of transparency in fee structures. Parents often find themselves grappling with ambiguous breakdowns, making it challenging to understand where their hard-earned money is being allocated. While private schools argue that high fee is necessary for maintaining high standards, there is a call for greater accountability and regulation. Advocates for educational reform propose measures such as standardised fee structures, periodic audits and stricter oversight to ensure private institutions are delivering on their educational promises without exploiting parents economically.”