Hyderabad: Streamlining admissions, implementing a ‘reasonable’ fee hike only once every three years and establishing grievance redressal mechanisms to address their issues are the demands put forth by parents to the Telangana Education Commission on Friday.
The parents demanded that a body similar to the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) should be established to oversee any fee hikes or collections in the name of books, uniforms, annual day, etc.
“Like professional colleges have TAFRC, even schools should have a committee. Hikes should be allowed only if the managements can justify them by showing an increase in salaries and other expenditures,” said K Venkat Sainath, organising secretary, Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA)
Sainath said that about 30 parents from different strata of society participated in the meeting and presented their problems to the commission.
Parents also pointed out that they are troubled not just by fee hikes but also by other expenses such as annual day fees, sports day fees or schools making it compulsory to procure uniforms or books from selected vendors at exorbitant costs. They also highlighted that the state is in dire need of a grievance redressal mechanism since most managements behave as if they are not answerable to anyone and punish students if their parents raise their voices on any issue.
“Many schools do not even have basic facilities but charge lakhs of rupees in fees. There is no fire safety, and hostels are being run without permissions. Managements can’t be allowed to act as per their whims and fancies,” said BVK Kishore, a parent who was part of the meeting.
After talking with all the stakeholders, the commission is expected to submit its report so that action can be taken before the start of the next academic year.
