Continuing their efforts to oppose the Prof. T. Tirupati Rao Committee report on school fee regulation, parents met IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and later Special Chief Secretary Ranjeev R. Acharya but did not get any firm commitment on recalling the recommendations.
However, Ms. Acharya is said to have promised that the government would not be taking any immediate action on the recommendations of the Committee. “This was the most positive assurance we got since the report was submitted and we expect the Government to take into consideration the sentiments of lakhs of parents,” said Ashish Neredi, a member of the Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA). They also met the IT Minister.
A team of HSPA also met Mr. Rao, who expressed solidarity with them but did not commit any action saying the subject was not in his domain. However, he responded positively when the members sought some time for explaining how dangerous the recommendations were in the larger context.
The HSPA tried to impress upon the government that the existing laws give it the right to regulate the fees to prevent profiteering, which the Committee totally ignored.
Mr. Ashish said that the HSPA also brought to Ms. Acharya’s notice how the 10% fee hike translate to anywhere between 500 to 1000% increase from Nursery to 10th Class given the huge variation in the slabs as students move to higher classes. She said that she would need more time to go through the report in detail before commenting on it.
Meanwhile, other parents allege that the government lacks sincerity in regulating the fee structure. They remind that in Gujarat a comprehensive Act on fee regulation was implemented within six months.
