HYDERABAD: The Telangana school education department is cracking the whip on 162 private schools, including international and corporate schools, in the city.

Acting upon a PIL filed in the Hyderabad High Court, the department has constituted 10 inspection teams, comprising mandal education officers, deputy education of ficers and auditors, which will check financial records of school managements. The regional joint director of the school education department is heading and monitoring the inspections.

“So far, nearly 100 schools have been inspected. The rest will be inspected in the coming days,“ said Somi Reddy , district education officer, Hyderabad. The government is expected to file a status report on 162 schools in court during the next hearing on June 6.

The inspection teams are asking school manage are asking school manage ments to fill detailed forms on their finances, including school fees, audit reports, teacher salaries and no objection certificates. They are verifying if the schools are adhering to GO 91, which states that admission fee should not be above Rs 5,000.

Officials said the government is determined to regulate fees in private schools from the next academic year and is serving notices for violation of norms. A majority of schools have already collected fees for this academic year and parents are demanding fee regulation at least from next academic year.

Even members of the Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA) are submitting proof to the school education department. “We will be sharing fee receipts of all the schools so that the education department can verify the violations by private school managements,“ said Ashish Naredi, joint secretary of Joint Action Committee for School Fee Regulation (JAC-SFR).

Meanwhile, a campaign started by JAC-SFR to bol ster support for their move ment has received nearly 1 lakh calls in five days. “We have received immense support from parents across the country . Rising numbers will only build more pressure on the Telangana government,“ said Aravinda Jata, chairman of JAC-SFR.



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