New academic year with host of old problems
Poor infrastructure continue to plague state schools
By : uma maheshwar
Update: 2015-06-10 06:53 GMT
Visakhapatnam: The summer holidays are coming to a close and re-opening of colleges and schools is round the corner in Visakhapatnam but a horde of problems are being carried over from previous years including lack of infrastructure, unregulated fee structure and unsafe transportation.
The private institutions mushrooming in every nook and corner are charging a way more than what they actually claim to be collecting. Even a KG student is being charged Rs 50,000 as admission fees.
Parents are asking for the implementation of the system of district fee regulatory committees but the issue is pending in court. According to the Regional Transport Authority, Visakhapatnam, many school buses still have to obtain fitness certificates. Officials are mulling over conducting a special drive to put the brakes on those who ignore the rules.
Many private schools and colleges having no labs for practicals and playgrounds. They are packing students into matchbox-sized classrooms. While the lack of facilities and teachers prompt the parents to not opt for government schools, the skyrocketing fees in private institutes is becoming a nightmare for them.
In the run-up to the re-opening of educational institutions, district education officer M.V. Krishna Reddy held a meeting with managements of private institutions in NAD junction on Tuesday.
He said the issue of the district fee regulatory committees is locked in court, but private educational institutes have to display the fee structure openly. He said the district educational department is geared up with textbooks and other necessary means for the new academic year. A parent from Madhurawada who came to admit his son the kindergarten at a neighbouring school said that he had to pay Rs 50,000 for admission fee besides building funds, library fees, etc.
The Students joint action committee from Andhra University submitted a memorandum to the DEO asking to implement the Right to Education Act, which guarantees the deprived and economically weaker students 25 per cent seats in private institutions.
TS says No to ‘Dwitiya Vighnam’:
Schools in Telangana, both private and government, will reopen on June 12, unlike in Andhra Pradesh which has pushed the reopening date to June 15 thanks to the Dwitiya Vighnam superstition.
Though there were many requests from different quarters, the TS government didn’t bow down to pressure and made it clear that the schools would reopen on the scheduled date. June 12 falls on a Friday and the following two days, June 13 and 14, are holidays since it is a second Saturday and Sunday.
Teachers’ unions and private schools had urged the government to push the reopening to June 15, Monday. “Instead of reopening on Friday and then closing schools again for two days, it is better to reopen on Monday itself. One day doesn’t make a difference,” a school teacher said. TS Private School Managements Association chief S. Srinivasa Reddy said, “They said they would shift the reopening dates, but we don’t know. The academic year and schedule is in tatters.”
However, the TS government stated that there was no change in the reopening date. “Schools will reopen on June 12 as scheduled earlier. There is no change in the reopening date,” TS school education commissioner T. Chiranjeevulu said.
He, however, added, “There will be no break for teachers because on the following Saturday and Sunday we are having training sessions for headmasters and teachers.”
Meanwhile, the AP HRD minister said schools will reopen on June 15.