VIJAYAWADA: As the new academic year is about to begin, a few private schools are taking up a new strategy to stay ahead in the game. The school managements are asking the teachers to step out, with fixed admission targets, and approach parents. The process of admission has begun in almost all reputed schools across the state and, in Vijayawada, it started much before in the first week of November.
Many teachers say they go to their existing students’ homes to interact, which is where they take details of parents of children studying in different schools.
The teachers lure the parents by giving them waivers in fees, along with other benefits.
By using their teachers for marketing purposes and giving certain parents discounts in fees, the schools violate some of the guidelines laid down by the government for admission of students in schools. “I work in a private school and teach children below Class V. We have been given targets to make 50 children admit in the school. By doing so, we have been promised a 25 per cent increment in our salaries, along with other incentives. So, we, teachers, visit parents to convince them to admit their wards in our school. We also offer them discounts,” T Jhansi, a teacher from Vijayawada, says.
Speaking to Express, the superintendent in-charge of private schools, K Srinivas, comments: “We have clearly instructed managements of all schools to not conduct any entrance test or visit parents. But, it has come to our knowledge that a few schools have kept up with the practice. We will conduct an inspection drive and take up the issue.”
Meanwhile, some parents say they are fed up with such marketing strategies adopted by schools and may launch a campaign against them.One such parent, Sreekrishna from Vijayawada, says, “Every other day, I respond to a teacher knocking on my door, enquiring about my children and narrating the details of their schools. This shows how private schools are damaging the education system by sending teachers on roads for sake of admissions. Soon, we would like to form a parents’ committee in the city and launch a campaign against such practices.”