HYDERABAD: With no help from the State government to cap the arbitrary rise in school fees, over 100 parents staged a protest by forming a human chain around Sundarayya Park at Baghlingampally here on Monday. Organised by the Telangana Parents Association (TPA), the protest was supported by different city-based organisations and parents.
The Association’s president Nagati Narayana flayed the State government for not regulating school fees. “The state government has done little to keep its promise of introducing a GO introduced this academic year to reduce school fees which has increased by 30-60 percent in three years,” Narayana said. The tuition fees, he said, too has gone up from 20 per cent to 40 per cent this year.
He also said that private schools were fleecing parents by forcing them to purchase books, uniforms and stationary from school. The Association demanded that all shops functioning within school premises should be shut down. “Besides tuition fee, private schools are charging extra fees in the name of books, uniforms, lunch, field trips, etc. Some schools even charge `300-500 for sending SMSs to parents,” said TPA member Pagadala Lakshmayya.
The committee set up by Professor Tirupati Rao to look into the setting up of District Fee Regulatory Committee to regulate fees, also came under attack by the protesters.