VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh School Education Regulation and Monitoring Commission (APSERMC) has received 19 complaints from parents with respect to private schools demanding high fees, in a span of two months. The commission also received 261 complaints from teachers during the period from across the State for non-payment of salary. These complaints were received despite the strict warning issued by the State government and the commission to the private school managements.
“The commission has instructed the respective district educational officers to warn school managements and keep a stringent vigil on all private schools in their jurisdiction,” said an official from the commission. He also said that more than 100 schools were inspected in the last two months and necessary warnings were issued to more than 35. “After our warnings, we haven’t received any complaints against those school managements. However, we know that some schools are fleecing parents and we are trying our best to end the same,” he said.
K Ramesh Babu, a parent of two, was forced to withdraw his children’s name from their school. “I export onions and corn. My international exports helped me earn handsome income for the past 12 years. But this year, due to lockdown, I could not even sell 10 per cent,” said Ramesh. From `50,000 to a month, his earnings have come down to `3,000. His daughter has passed eighth standard, while his son is supposed to be admitted to standard six.
Ramesh said the school management is demanding full fees from him. “We had requested the teachers and principals to continue teaching our children, but the principal said that they will not give admission unless I pay the entire fee. They also asked to pay ` 2,000 extra for conducting online classes.
Since I could not pay, they did not give id and password (for the online classes) to us,” he said, adding that he needs to pay nearly `50,000 for both children’s school fees and books. The calls made to the school management went unanswered. The officials of the APSERMC said that action will be taken against the management.
Ramesh’s daughter, who doesn’t want to miss an year, is insisting him to admit them in a government school. Similarly, Ravindra Chakravarthy, another parent, has transferred his students to a government school as he lost his job. “My elder daughter is in standard 10 and the younger one is in sixth. As it is a crucial year for my elder one, we did not want to waste one year and decided to shift them to a government school. With some new schemes, we hope that our daughters will get better education in the government school,” Chakravarthy hoped.
Complaints to APSERMC
19complaints from parents in a month with respect to private schools demanding high fees
261 complaints from teachers for non-payment of salary
6 each were from Kurnool and Visakhapatnam, two each from West Godavari and Krishna and one each from Anantapur, Nellore and Srikakulam