No hike in fees until further orders, govt tells private schools
By Express News Service | Published: 05th January 2018 02:01 AM |
Last Updated: 05th January 2018 07:43 AM | A+A A- |
HYDERABAD: In a major relief to parents, the school education department has made it clear that no school in the state will be allowed to jack up fees for the ensuing academic year 2018-19. The schools have been directed to “maintain status quo” and continue with the fees charged for the 2017-18 academic year till the government takes a decision on implementation of the recommendations of the Prof Tirupati Rao committee report. In a circular issued on Thursday, the school education department said that all private, recognised, un-aided and aided schools in the state, whether they follow CBSE/ICSE/IB/ Cambridge or state syllabus, have “to maintain status quo on the fee until further orders i.e., whatever fee is already in existence for the academic year 2017-18 will be continued for this academic year.’’
It may be noted that just days after the the committee submitted its report, the admission process in all schools began and will go on till January 12. In the absence of any direction from the government on fees, schools have issued circulars detailing an enhanced fee structure, much to the chagrin of parents.
The Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA) on Wednesday conveyed its concerns about fee structure to special chief secretary Ranjeev R Acharya and minister KT Rama Rao. “We pointed out that since the report questioned only the fee hike percentage and not the base fee, a school charging ` 50,000 as fees in 2017-18 could increase it by 100 per cent, making it `1 lakh in 2018-19 and then also expect a minimum hike of 10 pc over and above that every year as per Prof Rao’s recommendations,” said Ashish Naredi, a member of HSPA.
Though happy with the government’s intervention, parents are aware that it is just an interim relief. “The bigger task for the government would be to come out with an equally stringent order. The final order, in fact, would be the most crucial as it would deal with annual hike,” said Seema Agarwal, another member.
