The Telangana High Court on Wednesday set a deadline of April 8 for the state government to come up with a comprehensive policy on school fee regulation.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy was hearing petitions related to school fee regulation, filed by the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association (HSPA).
"Parents were eagerly awaiting the tabling of the recommendations of the Professor Tirupathi Rao Committee in the court on Wednesday. However, they were disappointed when the court was informed that the government was yet to formulate its firm opinion on the recommendations of the Committee," the HSPA said in a press release.
The Tirupathi Rao committee, formed in March 2017, had made several recommendations to the state government in its final report to regulate school fees. However, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government is yet to act on it.
Appearing on behalf of the state government on Wednesday, Advocate General BS Prasad sought a time of eight weeks to submit the report.
The court expressed its displeasure at this and noted that schools had already started collecting fees for the next academic year.
The bench then asked the Telangana government to submit an action taken report on the recommendations of the Tirupathi Rao Committee and also to come up with a comprehensive policy to regulate school fees irrespective of the government accepting or rejecting the Committee recommendations, by April 8.
The court said that it would hear the matter again on April 9 to ensure that there is an effective mechanism for school fee regulation.
"HSPA is pleased with the proceedings in the court today and would like to thank the High Court for setting a clear deadline for the formulation of a comprehensive policy on school fee regulation by the government," the HSPA said in a statement.
"The order of the High Court is a vindication of HSPA's struggle against illegal profiteering by the schools. HSPA hopes that the government will come up with strong and legally enforceable means of regulating fees and put an end to the loot being carried out in the name of school fees in several private schools," it added.