The Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association (HSPA) has alleged that the private schools have not implemented the government’s directive to suspend collection of enhanced fees till the District Fee Regulatory Committee (DFRC) cleared them.
The association has also accused the school managements of harassing the children of parents who opposed the arbitrary fee hike, which led to the launch of an agitation recently, forcing the government to issue GOMs 91 stipulating that the fee prescribed for the last academic year be collected instead of the enhanced ones. The order also stipulated that the schools form Parent Teacher Associations and governing councils in schools. None of the schools is following the government order, association representatives alleged at a press conference here on Friday.
The association joint secretary, M. Subramaniam said the schools had not bothered to submit their fee hike proposals to the DFRC by September 30. “In the last three years, Meridian hiked the fee by 140 per cent and Chirec by 240 per cent, to name just a few,” he said, questioning the managements to come out with details of their spending on infrastructural development and salaries.
The association claimed that most of the schools did not receive any official communication about the government order. The DFRC is yet to release any guidelines and despite repeated complaints, the Department of Education had not taken any concrete action. The District Collector also had been stalling for time.
“We don’t even know if any action is being planned against schools for failing to implement the GO,” says Mr. Kumar. “But we refuse to pay a single rupee more than what we paid in the last academic year. If the schools don’t follow the GO with immediate effect, we will be forced to launch an agitation again.”
