Telangana Government to crack whip on erring private schools

Adarsh Nagar: Are DEOs in several districts of the State are training their guns at private schools? If goings on are any indication, the vexed and fed-up officials are ready to take the private managements to task. This is, against the backdrop of some privately managed schools sending messages to parents and reaching them to send their wards studying Classes V and VI to attend classes.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior School Education department official said the State government's direction to schools is loud and clear – they are not physically opened for students of classes other than IX and X. The managements of schools affiliated to both the Central and the State boards have been told clearly that stringent action would be taken against erring institutions.

However, within three days of the physical reopening of schools for classes IX and X, the Hyderabad District Education officials were shocked to see a school in Vijayanagar Colony running classes for other classes. A notice was slapped against it seeking an explanation.

Officials in the neighbouring districts, like Medchal, have taken an undertaking from private schools that they would comply with the government direction and will not physically reopen schools for lower classes. "So far not a single violation has been reported," said a senior official. But, Hyderabad turned notorious, than any other district, in the State in blatant violation of norms by private schools.

When asked, a member of the Private School Correspondents' Association, on condition of anonymity, said not only in Vijayanagar Colony, even in the Edi Bazar some schools opened for lower classes and allowing even children of private sections to attend classes.

Giving reason, he said the private schools are being run in rented buildings. Now, the more students physically attend classes schools the more fee they can collect from parents to repay, pending rental dues and to clear other payments. "Not all schools, but some, which are affiliated to the State Board, are also resorting to it. This should be stopped as direction of the government was to protect safety of children," he said.

Particularly, schools affiliated to CBSE and ICSE have been behaving as if they are independent and not answerable to the State Education authorities. However, this time the department is all set to take schools to task if they violate norms and call children of primary classes to attend schools, they said. How far politicians, throwing their weight behind the school managements, resist from interfering is the million-dollar question that is nagging parents.