HYDERABAD: Bringing some relief to the protesting parents, the state government decided to send notices to as many as 162 schools, seeking an explanation about the exorbitant fee they are collecting.
A second batch of 12 schools, which were served show cause notice in March 2016 will be asked to clarify their stand as their replies were not found satisfactory.
Revealing the decision to issue notices to schools, deputy chief minister Kadiyam Srihari said the government will make all efforts to implement the existing rules to streamline school education in the state.
“We decided to issue notices to 162 private schools seeking an explanation for the fee they are charging. As the explanations given by 12 schools were not satisfactory, we have decided to issue fresh notices,” he said.
When asked whether any new acts would be brought in to regulate school fee, Srihari, who also holds education portfolio, said “There are already a sufficient number of acts and we have issued the notices according to the rules. Nonetheless, as an immediate measure, the government will make all efforts to implement the existing GOs and rules.”
The minister also directed the department of school education to strictly follow the fresh circular dated June 1 2016, sent by the Education department to all schools. The circular directs schools to strictly comply with the provisions for constitution of school managing committees (SMC), parent teacher association (PTA), Auditing of Accounts; and submission of the minutes of the meetings and audited accounts for each year.
HSPA delegation meets Deputy CM
After meeting the governor, the representatives of Hyderabad Schools’ Parents Association (HSPA) and Joint Action Committee for School Fee Regulation (JAC-SFR) met Education minister Kadiyam Srihari here on Wednesday and urged him to initiate steps for school fee regulation.
“The minister said that he is fully convinced about the need to regulate school fee. However, he said that it might take some time. The minister also assured to look into our demand for freezing of fee hike this year,” said Vikranth V, president of HSPA.
“The Minister sought some details from HSPA and promised to discuss the issue again in a few weeks time,” he added.
HSPA members thanked the minister for clarifying that all CBSE/ICSE/IGCSE schools fall under the regulatory authority of the state government.
Parents go on indefinite hunger strike
Protesting against the removal of their wards for questioning school fee hike, a group of parents launched an indefinite hunger strike in front of Amrita Vidyalayam here on Wednesday.
In the afternoon, the protesting parents were picked up by the police and were taken to Bollaram police station. They were released later in the evening.
However, parents decided to continue their strike in front of the police station and refused to leave the premises.