Notices to Centre, state on exorbitant school fees PIL
A bench of the Telangana High Court has sought the response of the state and Central officials on a PIL against private unaided schools charging exorbitant fees.
Hearing the PIL filed by Hyderabad resident Keethineedi Akhil Sri Guru Teja, the bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao issued notices to the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the department of School Education directing them to respond within four weeks.
The PIL alleges that both the Union and state governments have failed to regulate private unaided schools which are charging lakhs of rupees as fees due to lack of inspections by DEOs. The petitioner alleged that the GO No. 1 Education, issued by the state government on January 1, 1994 outlining the fee structure for such schools is not being adhered to. “Furthermore, of the 11,501 private schools in the state, only 50 have submitted their annual administration reports to the School Education department,” the PIL said.
The petitioner also raised issues regarding the non-implementation of the midday meals programme in government schools, particularly in Hyderabad, where there are about 500 primary and upper primary schools with approximately 53,948 students. The PIL said that these students are not being served eggs in their meals, as mandated under the PM Poshan scheme, which requires eggs to be served every alternate day.
In addition to these grievances, the petitioner requested the court to direct the state and Union governments to establish a committee for fee regulation in private schools.
The court adjourned the matter for four weeks to allow time for the filing of counter affidavits by the respondents.
Consider plea on seat hike in tech colleges, state told
The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to re-evaluate the applications filed by engineering colleges seeking permission to increase seats and merge courses.
Setting aside the orders of a single judge, a bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao make it clear that the final decision rests with the government.
The court also instructed the Higher Education department to expedite the decision-making process, particularly in light of ongoing counselling sessions.
The engineering colleges had moved court after the government refused to grant permission to increase the number of seats in courses such as B.Tech, BE, Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical, Electronics and Communication, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Security, as well as for merging certain courses. The single judge had previously ruled that no new courses could be started without the state government’s approval and that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) was necessary for increasing seats.
Senior advocates Desai Prakash Reddy, Sriram, Sriraghuram and S Niranjan Reddy represented the petitioners. They argued that it was inappropriate for the state government to deny permission to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH), and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
They pointed out that the AICTE expert inspection committee had thoroughly examined all aspects, including faculty and other facilities, and that the proposed changes would not increase the financial burden on the government.
Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy, representing the government, contended that the approval process for teachers, infrastructure and other factors would adhere to university rules. He expressed concerns about the financial implications for students, especially those from SC, ST, BC, and economically weaker sections, if seats were increased as requested. The AG also highlighted the existing vacancies in courses like CSE.
After considering the arguments, the bench directed the government to re-examine the applications from engineering colleges and make a timely decision.