HYDERABAD: Protesting the reluctance of state government in controlling private schools from collecting exorbitant fee, parents of school students staged a ‘Maha Dharna’ at Dharna Chowk here on Saturday.
“We have been campaigning for controlling private school fee for the past few years and this year we have intensified our protest as it is becoming unbearably burdensome on parents. We have explained the problem to District Educational Officer, district collector and higher officials of the education department, but to no avail,” said Arvind Jata, chairman of Joint Action Committee for School Fee Regulation (JAC-SFR).
Parents from all over city have come under the common platform of JAC-SFR, to highlight the problem and wake up the government from deep slumber on the issue.
“Our children were given transfer certificates as we did not pay the fee, after informing us with just an SMS. When we complained to senior officials they shamelessly said that the school managements are powerful and they cannot take any action against them,” said Srikant, a parent whose children are studying in Amrita Vidyalaya, Mahendra Hills.
“Today even poor people are sending their children to private schools. Taking this as an advantage managements are fleecing the parents. Unable to bear the cost of fee, many poor people are forced to stop studies midway. What is more important for the government? Protecting the interests of a few thousand school owners or safeguarding the interests of around 30 lakh parents?” questioned Kiran, an auto driver and president of Auto Drivers Union.
JAC-SFR has demanded the government to issue orders putting a stop to fee hike for this academic year and setting up an Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) to regulate schools fee. JAC warned of intensifying the agitation further, if no action is taken. JAC-SFR launched phone number (8686004050) for the parents to complain if any private school collects exorbitant fee.