Telangana private schools seek 15% fee hike annually

During a meeting with School Education officials, the TRSMA pitched for approval from the fee regulation committee, if the schools seek to increase the fee beyond 15 per cent

Hyderabad: The Telangana Recognised School Managements Association (TRSMA) on Wednesday sought a fee hike of 15 per cent per annum based on the inflation rate and consumer price index. The association pitched for approval from the fee regulation committee, if the schools seek to increase the fee beyond 15 per cent.

During a meeting convened by the School Education department officials with private school managements in the State here, TRSMA president Sadula Madhusudhan expressed concerns regarding the exorbitant fee charged by a few private schools, amounting to several lakhs per annum. “We agree that the fee regulation should be enforced on such institutions to prevent exploitation,” Madhusudhan said.

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The TRSMA wanted categorisation of fee structures in unaided private schools into four slabs – slab 1 (pre-primary), slab 2 (primary), slab 3 (upper primary) and slab 4 (high school) – in line with GO MS No.1. It also wanted private schools, charging less than Rs 55,000 per annum, be classified as budget private schools and sought exemption from the fee regulation.

According to association officer bearers, the State has around 11,500 private schools.” Subjecting all of them to fee regulation may lead to increased bureaucratic corruption and make it difficult for schools to manage day-to-day operations,” they said.

Further, since there were no existing rules that define procedures for collecting fee from defaulters, school managements urged the department to roll out clear guidelines for handling fee defaulters.

“Every year, 10 to 20 per cent of students of the budget private schools default on fee. In addition, the management receives recommendations from political leaders, organisations and government officials seeking fee concessions. This is making it difficult for schools to sustain operations. We want the government to come out with rules for collecting the fee from defaulters,” said S Sreenivas Reddy, honorary president TRSMA.