Hyderabad: School bus fee hike burns a hole in parents' pockets

Hyderabad: With the rapid rise in diesel prices, spiralling transport costs is turning out to be a major worry for parents in the city, as many private schools in the city have hiked the transportation fee by 20 to 30 per cent. Parents alleged that many private schools have already hiked school fees and now there is a hike being made in school transportation.There should be a proper fixation on fees. They asked about whereis the Sub-committee formed by the Education department for monitoring private schools and why is the State government not taking any steps to monitor private schools.

Venkat Sainath, joint secretary of Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA), said, "As the school fee is already hiked for the new academic year, the hike in transportation fees has also become a concern for the parents. Schools are now asking to pay Rs 4,000 as against Rs 2,000 in the last academic year.

There should be a proper fixation on fee.The fee regulation community/sub-committee that was formed by Education department is just for namesake as no action is been taken against private schools who are looting the public."

"With the increase of fuel prices, private schools have increased transportation charges.They are looting us every year by increasing the fees. For this new academic year, they have already increased the tuition fees. Why do we have to pay more for transportation fee, what additional facilities they will provide for our children," mooted a parent.

Rohan, a parent said, "Transportation fee depends on the distance to school from the child's home. I have asked the management about what is the need for a hike in transportation fees as they are no improvements in facilities.

Meanwhile, according to school management, "With the increase in fuel prices, the maintenance cost of buses, salaries of drivers and attendersand taxes have all gone up considerably."