Hyderabad: Private schools are using new methods to extort money from parents. The parent of a nursery student has been asked to pay Rs 20,000 to get Transfer Certificate and original birth certificate.
A.V. Jyothi, the mother of a nursery student at the Niraj Kindergarten School, Begumpet has complained that her daughter stopped going to school after attending classes for three weeks. She said, “My daughter used to cry and vomit everyday. Her health deteriorated and she developed gastritis.”
After this, the parents applied for TC in August. The parents claim that after repeated attempts to contact the kindergarten head Uma Talluri she asked them to pay Rs 20,000 for the documents. The absence of documents is now preventing the child from securing admission anywhere else.
“We paid Rs 21,700 as fees in May. I did not even get the uniform for which I had paid,” Jyothi said.
Mr Ashish Nareni, member, Hyderabad School Parents Association said, “There have been cases where parents were asked to pay for TC and birth certificates. Private schools are now finding new ways to extort money.”
A complaint has been filed at the Panjagutta police station. SI B. Mansingh who is dealing with the case said, “When I went to the school before Ganapati festival the head was not there. I will look into the matter and resolve the case this week.”
When this correspondent tried to contact Uma Talluri at the school the receptionist said that she was on leave and that no other authorities are available. The head has not responded to emails either. The school refused to provide her personal phone number.
The government has already established fee structures for private schools but schools have not yet taken them seriously. There are complaints in public fora where parents accuse schools of taking huge amounts of money but fail to provide even basic infrastructure.
Sandeep, an aggrieved parent said, “As per my knowledge all schools are demanding fees beyond the government fee structure. Some schools do not have grounds, no physical education teacher and no proper ventilation but no one is bothered about these issues.”
