Parents Protest Against School Fee Hikes

Hyderabad: With the new academic season set to begin in a couple of months, steep fee hikes in private schools across Hyderabad have triggered protests by parents, with cases emerging from multiple campuses over just the past week and fresh demonstrations being planned.

At HPS Begumpet, parents said the fee for PP1 was now around Rs.3.2 lakh a year for a child who spends only three to four hours in school, with additional yearly increases of 10 to 15 per cent. “Why should a primary school student be charged over Rs.3 lakh a year? This is only for academics and does not include transport, books or activities,” said a parent from Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, requesting anonymity.

The school saw a silent protest this week, where parents submitted a representation to the principal. They called the hikes arbitrary and without regulatory oversight. “There is a pattern of 10 to 15 per cent increase every year, and then transitional hikes of 30 to 35 per cent when students move from one stage to another, like Class V to VI,” the parent said. “If this continues, fees will soon go beyond what parents can afford.”

Parents from the Ramanthapur branch of the same institution raised similar concerns. “In the last four to five years, fees have gone up by nearly 141 per cent in the name of slabs. On top of that, there are yearly increases of 15 to 20 per cent and additional hikes when students move into certain classes,” a parent said. They added that the current fee for primary classes is already close to Rs.2 lakh, with further increases this year.

“We have submitted representations to the education secretary and other officials. We were told the matter would be examined, but there has been no action so far,” the parent said. “Our question is simple. Who is approving these hikes? Why are there no discussions with stakeholders like us?”

Protests are not limited to one institution. An international school in Shaikpet saw objections from parents last week over a proposed 10 per cent annual increase, and another private school in Boduppal also saw parents gather over fee issues this week. In several cases, parents say they have first approached management individually before coming together.

Hyderabad has long been seen as one of the costliest cities for school education, and images of fee structures circulated widely on social media in recent days. “The government has been delaying the Fee Regulation Act for two years now. One committee after another, but no decision,” said a parent from Ramanthapur. “A sudden increase of Rs.50,000 in a year is too much. Our salaries do not increase like that.”

The Telangana Education Commission (TEC) has proposed a draft bill that seeks to regulate fees through a structured system. The proposal includes categorising schools based on factors such as infrastructure and location, fixing a ceiling for each category, and allowing revisions only within limits linked to the Consumer Price Index. However, the bill is still stuck at the Cabinet level.

TEC members reiterate that the government must take action soon and turn the law into force. They also insist that for any hike, parents have to be convinced, and fees cannot be increased just like that. Parents say the delay in bringing such a law into force has left them with little recourse. “There have been promises and meetings, but nothing has moved. The fee regulation bill has been going around for months,” said Venkat Sainath, a member of the Hyderabad Parents Association.