Hike in school fee, stationery hit parents hard in Mancherial

Mancherial: Tuition fee and the rates of stationery soared, causing financial burden on the parents who were already suffering a blow due to inflation. Mancherial district has 740 government and 150 private recognized schools, providing education to 66,409 students. A total of 49,722 students are studying in the private schools, reflecting a whopping 74 percent. […]

Mancherial: Tuition fee and the rates of stationery soared, causing financial burden on the parents who were already suffering a blow due to inflation.

Mancherial district has 740 government and 150 private recognized schools, providing education to 66,409 students. A total of 49,722 students are studying in the private schools, reflecting a whopping 74 percent. The parents, who are reportedly dissatisfied with poor quality education and infrastructure, depend on the private educational institutions. They are forced to shell out huge amounts to provide education to their children.

The tuition fee, one of the important components charged by private recognized schools, has gone up by at least 20 percent. The fee is Rs 45,000 for class VII as against Rs 40,000 collected in 2021. It is more than 50,000 for Class X. The managements increased the fee citing various reasons including losses incurred by Covid-19 pandemic.

Strangely, the managements of many recognized educational institutions in the district headquarters are not accepting payment of fees through digital platforms such as Gpay or Phonepe due to unknown reasons. Parents who are unable to draw liquid cash from ATM kiosks are struggling to pay the fee. They requested the officials concerned to take steps to allow them to make online transactions.

Similarly, the cost of textbooks, notebooks, pens, pencils and uniforms has gone up by somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent. The outlets of stationery and readymade apparels are offering commissions to the managements of the private schools to sell the textbooks and uniforms by entering into agreements for a specific period. So, the managements are instructing the parents to throng certain outlets to buy the textbooks, notebooks and uniforms.

The authorities of the education department drew flak for failing to check the rise in fees. “The officials concerned are showing negligence in checking the fee hike by the private schools. The government orders with regard to increase of the tuition fee are blatantly violated. As a result, the parents are at the receiving end,” K Satyanarayana, a parent, regretted. Mancherial district educational officer S Venkateshwarlu said that action would be taken against errant private schools if someone lodges a complaint.