Private schools in Mancherial harass pupils for fees

Mancherial: Some private recognised schools in the district are drawing criticism for ‘harassing’ students and parents to pay term fees. They are allegedly punishing the students by making them stand for quite long and chiding them for failing to pay the school fees. Besides, they are allegedly threatening parents that their children would not be […]

Mancherial: Some private recognised schools in the district are drawing criticism for ‘harassing’ students and parents to pay term fees. They are allegedly punishing the students by making them stand for quite long and chiding them for failing to pay the school fees. Besides, they are allegedly threatening parents that their children would not be allowed to appear for the Summative Assessment (SA) if the fee is not paid.

Warning notices

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“As we are having a Summative Assessment from December 13 onwards, your child has to clear the due amount till November month. Otherwise, your child will not be permitted to write the exams. Kindly cooperate in this regard. Thank you!” a message sent to a parent by the management of a reputed private recognised school in the town said.

“Dear parents! It has come to our notice that most of the parents have not cleared the school fee of their child till the month of November. Kindly clear the fee as early as possible, failing which, students will not be allowed to classes,” a message shared by another famous school of the town, on a WhatsApp group of parents maintained by the school.

Blackmailing

The managements of the private schools, which suffered huge losses due to Covid-triggered lockdown for two consecutive academic years, were desperately trying to overcome the financial crisis. They are sending these threatening messages to the groups on WhatsApp, an instant messaging application. They are indulging in ‘emotional blackmail’ of the parents by making phone calls stating their children would not be permitted to appear in the examinations.

“Parents are tensed to receive such threatening messages and phone calls. They are forced to arrange the fee by way of loans from private sources at exorbitant rates of interest or mortgaging their assets. Instead of threatening, the managers of the schools can request the parents and explain their financial situation to collect the fees,” a parent, under the condition of anonymity, opined.

District Educational Officer S Venkateshwarlu told Telangana Today that he would look into the allegations levelled by the parents against the managements of the private schools. He said that stringent action would be initiated against the schools only when parents bring the issue to his notice. He advised the managements of the private recognised unaided schools to amicably collect the fees instead of resorting to coercive methods.

Meanwhile, some private schools are collecting fees with regard to two academic years that went off without physical classes during Covid-19 lockdown. A group of parents staged a dharna in front of the gate of a school demanding action against the management of the institution at Cement Coal Complex (CCC) Colony in Naspur mandal on Tuesday.

Mukesh Goud, one of the agitators, alleged that his daughter was subjected to harassment for not clearing dues. He accused the management of the school of harassing him by denying the issuance of transfer certificate and other documents for exposing the ‘cruel act’ of the institution. He regretted the future of his ward which is now at risk due to the delay in submitting the documents to another school.

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