Schools, Exploitation and Parents

By Mohammed Younus

Parents up in arms against big loot in schools

Thanks to the poor checking mechanism and lacunae in the implementation of laws, private school managements in the city are raking in a moolah and exploiting parents in the name of various categories of fees.  There exists a large gap between the prescribed fees by the government and the ones collected by private school managements , and year on enhancement in fees has become a pain in the neck for parents for decades now.

Fees collected by the private school managements are unimaginable for a common man and unaffordable for the well-to- do as well. The high handedness of the private school managements in city has reached new levels with an average 100 to 200 per cent increase in five years. Though the steep rise in fees by private managements resulted in strong activism from parents, it also simultaneously exposed the hollow regulatory measures being implemented by State education department.

Hyderabad Schools’ Parents’ Association member M Subrahmanyam said that the school managements started enhancing fees exponentially from the year 2007. “In 2007, most of the city schools have increased fees by 35 per cent, contrary to the annual 15 per cent hike, and this forced several parents to speak out strongly against the exploitation.”

In 2009, the parents’ group approached the government complaining about the rampant hike in fees by private schools in the city. Mounting pressure forced government to issue GO 91 during the same year directing the school managements not to charge more than Rs 5,000 as caution deposit. The Hyderabad Schools’ Parents’ Association member said most of the 1,400 private school managements in the city did not follow what was up held by the High Court and by State government through a GO 42 in 2010.

He lamented that year after year, these school managements have been increasing fees without holding consultations with the respective parents-teachers Associations or government authorities. Another representative of the Parents’ group Ashish Naredi said almost four government orders were in place regulating the affairs of the private schools, but most of them continue to be ignored. He said, “As per GO MS 1, 1994, no school can earn more than 5 per cent profit and 50 per cent of the fee collected must be paid as salaries of teachers. Besides these, schools should have to submit their annual reports and audited statements of accounts every year.”

Though this GO has been in place for two decades, the school managements continue to exploit parents by enhancing fees and flouting the norms under the nose of government, he lamented. In 2013, the then Hyderabad district collector M K Meena made it compulsory for private managements to display their fee structure on flexes in front of their offices, but it was challenged in High Court and the matter is still pending. Hyderabad District Education Officer B Somi Reddy said upon complaints from various groups, officials from the education department would visit and examine schools as per the powers vested by GO MS 1 and 42, which have been charging more fees from parents. He said regional joint directors would crack the whip on school managements from this Monday and action would be initiated against erring school managements.

Parents’ association member Subrahmanyam sought to know as to why State government was not showing any interest in resolving this issue when it could fix the maximum retail price for the sale of liquor in the state. He said, “This has to be stopped right here, if not, it will spoil the lives of middle class people and even affluent classes.” Besides all this, strict uniform codes have been cited as a contributing factor for the benefit of the managements. Some local schools are alleged to be in deal with suppliers, sometimes they themselves turn suppliers selling own uniforms to raise money. So is the case with the supply of books as well in the case of certain schools. The discounts offered by some of the publishers are ranging up to 35 per cent thus making it to be most lucrative part of running schools as a business.

 Fee structures in some schools 

CHIREC International School (Nursery)
Annual fee : Rs 75,000 
Term fee : Rs 19,500
Activity fee : Rs 19,500

Meridian Educational Society (1st Standard)
Term 1 tuition fee : Rs 23,000
Term 2 tuition fee : Rs 20,781
Total amount including Various heads paid : Rs 1.71 lakhs

GLENDALE (KG to 10th standard)
Application & Registration fee   : Rs 1,000

One term fee :

Rs 1 lakh up to 5th,
Rs 75k for 6th,7th
Rs 25K for 8th 9th

Caution deposit :  Rs 10,000 for all

Oakridge International School
Tuition fee : 

Rs 74,400 for up to 3rd standard,
Rs 90,000 for 9th and 10th

Term 1 fee :

Rs 59,300 for preprimary Students,
Rs 63,800 and Rs 70,500 for Class VII to X

Demands of parents

• Year on year fee hike must be curbed
• Schools must take permission before increasing fees
• State government must ensure the implementation of laws concerned
• Particular laws must be strengthened to ensure quality of education

GOs pertaining to the regulation of schools

GO MS No 246 (1987):
Community participation in the form of Parents Teachers Association must
Implementation status: Marginal
Reason: No initiative from government

GO MS No 1 (1994):
Maximum profit only 5 percent, 50 percent salary must be spent on salaries, submission of audited accounts yearly
Implementation status: Being violated for years
Reason: No initiative from government

GO MS No 91 (2009):
Application fee Rs 100, Registration fee Rs 500
Refundable caution deposit Rs 5,000; no other fee to be charged under any head
Implementation status: Severely violated 
Reason: Sub judice

GO MS No 42 (2010):
Upheld various clauses of GO 91
Implementation status: No implementation 
Reason: Stay on few clauses of GO 91