Private schools ordered not to sell uniforms

However, the efforts of the DEO to regulate has come ‘a stitch too late’, as nearly 80 per cent of the private schools have already emptied their shelves.

Hyderabad; With hardly a fortnight left for schools to reopen, the Hyderabad District Educational Office (DEO) appears to have woken up from slumber and issued an order regulating sale of uniforms and stationery etc., in private schools.

However, the efforts of the DEO to regulate has come ‘a stitch too late’, as nearly 80 per cent of the private schools have already emptied their shelves.

---

In a directive issued on Thursday, Hyderabad DEO asked deputy DEOs and deputy inspectors of schools to ensure that private schools affiliated to State, CBSE and ICSE boards operating in Hyderabad do not sell uniforms, shoes and belts etc., in the school premises.

Citing a court order, the DEO said sale of books, notebooks or stationery, if any, should be on a noncommercial, no-profit-noloss basis. However, according to parents, the private and corporate schools have been insisting on purchasing books and other material from them at an exorbitant cost.

“Apart from taking an advance tuition fee of Rs 15,000 in the month of April, the school insisted on purchasing in-house material including text books and workbooks that cost us Rs 10,000. It is not inclusive of textbooks and uniforms, which we have been asked to purchase from the school before reopening,” said Hema Latha, a parent of a Class X student studying in a corporate school in Ameerpet.

Some private and corporate schools have adopted a new approach of tying up with the e-commerce websites and local retailers to facilitate sale of the uniforms, shoes and belts on a commission basis. This move is aimed at circumventing the regulations of the School Education Department.

“Parents with two school kids are being forced to shell out anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 on textbooks, notebooks, uniforms and other stationery, which is absolute business by the private schools. The order issued by the Hyderabad DEO is not proper in the first place. If the Education Department is serious about the order, schools must be directed to refund excess amounts collected from parents,” Hyderabad Schools’ Parents Association joint secretary K Venkat Sainath demanded.