The Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA) has questioned the lackluster attitude of the government in delaying the implementation of measures to control exorbitant fee hikes by private schools in the State and charged it with delaying its response to the High Court despite repeated requests.
HSPA representatives Venkat and Ramanjeet, in a statement here, said that it has been five years since Prof. T. Tirupathi Rao Committee submitted its recommendations, and despite the High Court directions, the government has been delaying its decision.
They said though the government promised to file its report on July 7 to the court, in reply to a contempt petition, has again sought time. This attitude of the government reflects its failure to understand the fleecing of parents by the schools going on for the past five years. For next year, the admissions will start in November itself and if the orders don’t come now, the fleecing by the schools will continue, they said..
The statement said the government constituted the Fee Regulation Committee headed by Prof. T. Thirupathi Rao, former Vice-Chancellor, Osmania University, on March 21, 2017, and it submitted the report to government on December 30, 2017. A clarification report was filed on June 20, 2018.
The HSPA filed a public interest litigation in 2021 alleging exorbitant fee hikes by schools in Telangana on account of lack of legislation and guidelines framed by the State government. The Court directed the Secretary of Education Department to conclude all deliberations and send comments to the State government to take the final decisions within 3 months from the order dated March 11, 2022.
The statement further added that when the State government failed to take a final decision on the matter, HSPA filed a contempt case for non-complying with the final orders. The Education Secretary filed a counter affidavit in the court stating that draft legislation for regulating school fee of private schools has been prepared and is being examined by the State government, and requested for more time. The Court asked the Education Secretary to complete all discussions and take a final decision by July 7 this year. Now the government has sought further time and it is testing the patience of the parents, said the statement
Mr. Venkat and Ramanjeet said that HSPA has been fighting for parents’ rights since 2010 and the government has not woken up to the ever-increasing problem faced by parents due to year-on-year increasing hikes in school fee by private schools.
