Warangal: Warangal may be touted as an education hub by the state government, but it is also becoming the centre for illegally- run schools.
Being the second largest city in the state, Warangal has been attracting many international businesses and the state government itself is sending IT companies and educational institutions like IIM to Warangal. As a result, Warangal is also becoming a business hub.
For those people who could turn anything into business, Warangal is the best choice to set up a school and make easy money. A colourful school board on any building claiming modern facilities for students and by convincing the parents to shell out money so that their kids would score top ranks in IIT, Eamcet, is all that is needed to make profit of several crores.
They bribe the right people with contacts and get the necessary permissions.
There are about 1,600 private schools in the district and at least 100 such schools. Due to the lack of proper vigilance by the education department in the district, these illegal schools make hay while the sun shines.
Parents who are particular about where their child studies, whether it has bus facility, if IIT training is given, fail to see through such schools and get taken in for a ride.
The education department conducts raids and shuts down some schools at the beginning of the academic year and then conveniently turns a blind eye over the issue. Recently the education department conducted raids on some private schools in Mahbubabad, Kazipet, and Hanamkonda and shut them down. In Hanamkonda alone, five schools were shut down recently.
On Saturday, a school in Kazipet was closed after the locals complained to the collector. DEO P. Rajiv said they are not sparing any schools which are found without required permissions. “We have many other schools on our radar. We will conduct raids on them too.
If any private school is found to be illegal, we are closing it. We will also ensure the school managements return the fees paid by the students,” he said.
