VIJAYAWADA: A tnie report on Saturday throwing light on how private schools were fleecing students by forcing them to purchase books and stationery from them has evoked a positive response from the state government.HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao told tnie he had directed the principal secretary and the Commissioner of School Education to look into the issue and take necessary action.
He explained that officials had been directed to visit schools across the state and see for themselves what was going on to suggest action against those flouting rules and fleecing students.He said though rules lay down that educational institutions should be run with service as their motto, they had become commercialised.
District education officers have been instructed to identify schools that are involved in the sale of notebooks and stationery so that appropriate action can be initiated against the guilty. Speaking to TNIE, principal secretary of the Education Department Aditya Nath Das said: “We have taken the issue very seriously. We will take action against schools found to be guilty. Parents should question managements on this practice. Also, parents have to come forward and lodge a complaint with district officials.”
Meanwhile, parents of many children flayed the department for its alleged inaction. “It has been almost a month since schools have reopened and parents of students have already paid tuition fee and purchased uniforms and other supplies. If the State government takes action now, it would be like bolting the stables after the horses have fled. Will the government force the school managements return our money?” questioned P Sujatha, a housewife and a resident of Vijayawada.