Hyderabad. August 07: Demanding the immediate release of the much awaited Government Order from the Fee Regulatory Advisory Committee, a sub-set of the Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA), dubbed the Parents Association Consultation Committee (PACC) staged a dharna at Indira Park on Thursday. Reckoned by Parents Associations across the Twin Cities to be a manna from heaven at a time when many private schools have increased fees, the Government Order had reportedly been scheduled to be released beginning this week.
The assurance for speedy release of the Government Order was made by the School Education Minister D Manikya Vara Prasada Rao around five days ago to the Parents Associations in the City, alleged members of the PACC on Thursday.
Speaking to the Ibrahim Khan of the PACC, who also heads the Parents Association at Princess Esin School revealed that “the proposed Government Order, if implemented is expected to bring relief to hassled parents across Hyderabad since one of the prime contentions it places is the rollback of fees to that of the earlier academic year.” Meanwhile, parents alleged that schools are continuing to charge extant fee rates, which have been described as “beyond the means of parents, with hikes up to 40 per cent in the case of some schools.” The PACC members, which included the general secretary of the organisation, Mujaheed, spoke on the dais regarding the issue, insisting that the parents would have to continue with the agitation process, “if a positive outcome is to be expected in this regard.” Minister Vara Prasada Rao meanwhile had reportedly met the parent representatives at the beginning of the week and assured them that “the GO in question would be favourable to the parents, and will be signed and released by a day or two.” The dharna, which saw parents along with their kids bearing placards and posters demonstrate at the venue for around three hours was “a sign of desperation and a show of the fact that parents are at the end of their tether with regards to the school fee hike,” said a parent.
“It has been more than five days now, yet we are kept waiting for a reprieve,” rued Khan. The PACC incidentally is still a part of the larger umbrella of the Hyderabad School Parents Association, and has been created around two months back to “safeguard the interests of parents from around eight schools in and around the Old City area,” revealed a parent at the meet.
–Agencies–