Rising school fee returns to haunt parents in Hyd

Hyderabad: With the admissions process underway for pre-primary and primary sections (LKG to class 3) for the upcoming academic year, private schools are once again demanding double fees, raising concerns among parents. Some parents have alleged that no government order has been issued so far to regulate these fees and have urged the Education Department to establish a specific date for fee collection across all schools.

The admissions process is underway for primary sections in all the private schools. Compared to last year, there has been a 20 per cent to 30 per cent hike in term fees. For instance, if pre-primary fees were Rs 80,000 last year, private schools are charging Rs 1 lakh for the next academic year. This increase is occurring without any fee regulation in place by the education department.

In spite of repeated promises made by the Telangana government to regulate school fee structure, there has been no government order released so far. In May, the principal secretary of the Education Department issued an order that plans will be made to regulate school fees in September. School Education Department, Telangana hinted that for the next academic year, the department is planning to introduce a special law to regulate fees and penalise schools for inflating costs, but to date, no orders were passed, and many private schools began looting parents, alleged few parents.

“We are tired of fighting the same issue year after year. Despite the State government's repeated promises to regulate school fees, no action has been taken. With the admission process for the next academic year already underway, it seems another year will pass without any resolution. The lack of a proper mechanism to prevent private schools from arbitrarily increasing fees each year is deeply concerning, especially since there is no transparent or scientific rationale provided by schools for these hikes. It would be more effective if the education department established a specific date in the academic calendar for all schools to uniformly collect fees,” emphasised K Venkat Sainath, Joint Secretary of Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA).

“With another academic year beginning, it appears that the government's promises remain confined to paper. Recently, I admitted my son to Class I, and the fee was Rs 1 lakh, compared to Rs 80,000 last year. When I enquired with the school management, they justified the hike by claiming it included additions like new furniture, Digi classes, and more. To make matters worse, they did not provide a proper fee receipt but instead wrote the amount on a piece of paper and stamped it with the school seal,” said Suresh Reddy, a parent.