Parents and students on Saturday staged a protest at schools closed by Education Department officials for not possessing government recognition.

Following the directions of Collector A.Md. Imtiaz, a team led by District Education Officer (DEO) M.V. Rajya Lakshmi inspected a few schools and shut down the unrecognised ones in Vijayawada during a drive on Friday.

The DEO put out banners in front of the schools, stating that the institution had been shut for not having recognition and directed the managements to not run the schools further.

Students and parents who reached the closed schools on Saturday morning staged a protest and questioned the staff about the future of their children.

Fees paid

“The school management did not give any information about government recognition at the time of admission. We paid ₹4,000 as first quarter fee, ₹6,000 for books and purchased uniform with ₹2,500. Now, the institution is closed,” said Narayana, father of a Standard VIII student.

A few parents admitted both their children in the same school and spent about ₹25,000 towards fee, books, shoes and uniforms.

“Admissions are closed in other schools. What is the future of our children?”, said a mother, Aruna, who was shocked with the closure of Oxford School.

She urged the government to take action against the school managements for deceiving the students and ensure that the fees were repaid.

Raids continue

Meanwhile, Ms. Rajya Lakshmi and her staff conducted raids on unrecognised schools in the city on Saturday. “We inspected many institutions and verified the records,” she said.

“Today, we shut down Teja Chaitanya School, Sri Vani School in Vambay Colony, Oxford School Bhavanipuram and Vani School located at Mutyalampadu,” the DEO said.

The government gave wide publicity on unrecognised schools before the beginning of the academic year and appealed to the parents to not admit their students in such schools, Ms. Rajya Lakshmi said.