Students caught in a cleft stick over school fee hike

Hyderabad: The issue of fee hikes in private schools in the city has always left students in the lurch. Now, with just a few days left for the new academic year to begin, higher-class students of private schools are worried that they will face several instances of humiliation once more.

Higher-class students point out that the fee hike in private schools is a never-ending issue. Many students will be made to sit outside the classroom or in the playground as a form of punishment for not paying fees on time, they say. The students also urge to be allowed to use previous-year books of the same class, and providing concessions to meritorious students.

On the condition of anonymity, a student of a private school said, “It feels very embarrassing whenever your name is called out in front of your classmates for not paying fees or not having textbooks. Last year, I had faced the same situation. I am now in senior class and can manage by borrowing books from my seniors, but my sister, who is in class 3, could not borrow books, as every year the textbook of primary wing gets changed.”

“Due to the fee issue, I have seen many of my friends being forced to change their school in the middle of the academic year last year. Even this year we are going to witness the same scenario. It will be better if state government focuses on improving the standard of the government schools, so that the students belonging to lower middle-class families can get enrolled in them,” said Mohan, a class 9 student of a private school.

“In every new academic year, I have seen my father struggling to arrange money. Even this year, we have fallen into the same situation. Along with buying the regular subject textbooks, we have to purchase IIT books as well, which are of no use. It will be better if the state government takes stern action on private schools,” said Rohini, a class 10 student of a private school.