Hyderabad: Include education in manifesto, parties told

Hyderabad: After hundreds of protests against rising school fees, and representations to the state government, none of which has borne fruit, the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association (HSPA) is planning to ask all political parties to include educational reforms in their manifestos in the upcoming elections. 

The association also wants to hear from political parties on the education policies they will pursue. The HSPA is demanding development of government schools and better control of private schools. Parents are hoping that the next government will usher in meaningful changes in the education sector. 

K. Venkat Sainath, member of the HSPA, said, “HSPA is urging all political parties to include educational reforms in their manifestos. The main agenda of the next government should be development of government schools and controlling private schools. We demand that all political parties mention these demands in their election manifestos.”

He said HSPA will invite all parties and NGOs for a round-table conference and will urge them to mention these issues in their manifestos.

Gaddam Murali, another member of the HSPA, said, “The Telangana government has turned out to be a major disappointment as far as education is concerned. It has not only reduced the education budget continuously but has also made Hyderabad the costliest city for school education.” 

They had promised to regulate school fees in the GHMC manifesto but then did nothing to fulfil it. Hyderabad schools charge the highest fees when compared to any other city in the country."

He said the HSPA would like to understand from all political parties their respective stands on the issue and how they will be different to the TRS and hence the round-table meeting. "We will run a campaign to ensure that school fee regulation becomes an important issue in the election and ask parents to run a 'No School Fee Regulation - No Vote' campaign."

Recalling their efforts in the past, HSPA member Ramana Jetti said, "We met school education department officials, education minister Kadiyam Srihari and even IT minister K Taraka Rama Rao. We did not succeed in getting an appointment from the chief minister Chandrashekhar Rao. The education minister says IT minister has to take the decision. When we approached the IT minister he said Mr Kadiyam Srihari is looking into this issue. The education minister told us that the private schools' association is stronger than the government as they are ready to spend hundreds of crores on lawyers and oppose or hold back government decisions."

He said that no school has a parents committee comprising only parents and this too is an issue. "We hear only three excuses from them always: "Will look into the issue". Or the "state investigation is in progress" or that private schools have filed a PIL and got a stay order from the court. 

"I filed a case around 24 months back against one incident related to a private school, with all the evidence, but there is no action till today. Many parents are calling on HSPA with their problems but we are also helpless due to the current government," Mr Jetti said. 

HSPA member Pavan Reddy said that RBI data shows that the Telangana government has spent the least amount on education compared to earlier governments. "It's far worse that the state is ranked last in three of the last four years."