Hyderabad: Some international schools charge Rs 5 lakh

Hyderabad: Parents in the city demand ‘Delhi school-type admission’ process, wherein seats would allotted based on a lottery system.

Some are going to the extent of pre-booking seats in schools with all facilities, even paying high amount of donations in advance. Though there has been no official notification from the school education department, the admission season has started prematurely from the second week of October itself and is booming in the city.

In the lottery system of admission, a random selection method is followed in which if there are about 20 admission applications received in a class against only 10 vacant seats, then all the candidates would be picked based on a draw of lots.

Reservations are also followed while giving admissions.  The applicants can be picked either manually or computerised in case there are thousands of applications.

“There is a need for transparency and strict rules in the admission process of private schools. Several schools have started the admission process before the notification from the department of school education is out,” demanded Narayana N. from the Telangana Parents Association (TPA).

He stated that there they want the lottery system of admission implemented in all the schools in the city and state as well, so that all the parents would get a fair chance for admission.

By the end of the current academic year itself, the admission process in the schools is winding up and those who have money are blocking seats in advance by paying huge amounts depending on the class of the student and the type of the school, added Narayana.

Several schools on their school websites have notified the admission process and are inviting applications for all classes.

Even for existing students, parents have to pay an amount of Rs 5,000 to block the seat for next year, whereas in the case of new admission, the admission fee in normal to international school might vary from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh.

There are also schools which take the admission fee only in cash, so that it is not accounted for, said Mr Shabbir Ali, of the Private Teachers Association.

He pointed out that there is a lottery system in city schools as well but that is limited only to a few schools.

With the admission season beginning prematurely, several parents are not getting the opportunity to get their child admitted to schools as by the time they realise what’s happening,  the admissions are already over. Admissions should start only after the  official notification is released by the government, said Venkat Sainath, of the Hyderabad Schools’ Parents’ Association (HSPA).

The release date for the official notification from the department of school education (DSE) is not yet fixed.