July 20, 2009

Whats happening @ DPaS

1. At this moment DPaS team is engaged along with few other associations in strengthening HSPA activities to ensure the Fee Regulatory Committee recommendation's turn up into a GO, so as to have a moral win over the unjustified fee hikes by schools across AP.

2. The court case is still as is where is & we're trying to get a hearing on this keep moving, at last this needs to come to a logical conclusion, as mind we have our 2nd term fee fast catching up in a week or so .....

3. Response for adding new members has been pathetic (no mincing of words) & be assured as warned earlier, should the legal battle gets in our favor only a small fraction of the school of 1800+ are tend to get benefited. This will be a failure for DPaS team inspite of a win, which we're unable to digest & request parents to come in numbers & get yourself registered. Leave a message with details on dpssecunderabad@gmail.com & we'll get back to you, to complete registration.

4. Whats happening to the volunteers for the planned sub committees to ensure we contribute to our schools development ? Had confirmations from less than 20 people & is this all we have for a justifiable cause ?

Think over parents, this is for each & every child of yours & is not a few, as things happen in closed environment everywhere ... lets give the best to every single child in this school ....

July 13, 2009

HSPA car campaign email

Communication to parents who's email IDs either bounced or mis spelled.

Parents,

You would’ve seen clippings in some of the Telugu TV channels on Saturday evening & sometime on Sunday as well on the Car Poster Rally by HSPA. This was done just to keep up the momentum going in the general public & unfortunately due to non-availability of permission to gather large numbers on a Saturday evening @ necklace road has forced us to have little over 20 cars gathering for media to take up this cause for us. Anyways, now friends its your turn to keep this rolling.

HSPA (Hyderabad Schools Parents' Association) has been taking various initiatives to raise voice against the Unjustified Fee Hikes in Private Schools; all these initiatives have been supported by all parents. Now, in continuation to spread the message we now bring you a novel idea ‘THE HSPA CAR CAMPAIGN’. This campaign has been launched on 11th July, 2009 evening by organizing a rally at Necklace Road.

What is this campaign about?
HSPA has created posters with four messages; these posters are attached to this email in pdf (acrobat reader) format, for jpg images visit www.mspa.co.in title 'The HSPA Car Campaign'. You are now expected to download & take a print of any of these posters in B&W or Color depending on your convenience and paste it up on the Rear/Front glass of your car. Rear glass will give better visibility while you drive around.

How will this help?
It would immediately give visibility on the streets wherever we travel. Concerned parents would get to know that there are many more parents who are a part of this movement and the e-mail id can help us bring more parents together. Apart from parents, this will be seen by the Government bodies too and so would reinforce our message that we want a just answer.

What are the other benefits?
Not all parents can participate all the time. Circumstances sometimes constraint the participation even when one wishes to. We have had many mails expressing regret that they could not participate for the rally or for the meet. This simple poster stuck on the car can help every parent to raise their voices against the unjustified fee hike while moving in the car. This will be the first of its kind of campaign and so will bring great visibility. Every parent can now participate.

What else can be done?
Every parent can also contribute to this activity by sending these posters to as many parents that they would know of and encouraging them to put up the poster on their cars. This will increase participation and multiply the message in terms of reach.

Now, is the time for every parent to express his participation, all that is required is to take a print of the posters attached and paste it on their car. You do care for it right? Whoz stopping you for your right to express - hurry up & show it up.

Do your bit, take the print and paste it on your car now!

Thanks and Regards,
General Secretary
DPS Parents Association, Secunderabad (DPaS)
– Where social commitment matters.
dpssecunderabad@gmail.com

A leading member of Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA)

PS: Safety while driving is important, please do not stick the poster is such fashion that it restricts your sight while driving. Ideally poster can go on the left top corner of the front glass from the inside and a second one on the rear glass.

July 10, 2009

Car Poster being launched by HSPA

HSPA invites all parents to join the "Car Poster" launch on
11th July, 2009 @ 05.00PM
@ the Necklace Road Railway Station (facing necklace road)

News thats in favour of Parents

Todays Sakshi telugu news paper, carried out this news, where in its says the report submitted by Fee regulatory committee supports Parents cause & is being fined tuned before it may become law.

July 09, 2009

NDTV : Andhra Parents protest hike in school fees

Parents are on the warpath against school managements in Andhra Pradesh. This after there was an unprecedented hike in fees in several schools. The government has stepped in to regulate, but will it work?
The outcome will be keenly watched by parents and schools across the country as it could set a precedent where parents are ultimately able to have a voice that's heard by schools.
It is a double blow for parents like Nivedita. At this time of pay cuts and job losses, schools in Andhra Pradesh have hiked fees this academic year from anywhere between 15 per cent to even 100 per cent. For the first time, parents have come together to stand up and speak out.
"In each family there will be three kids going to school. Where will we get the money in these times of recession? How can we pay 60 to 70 thousand rupees for each child?'' asked a worried Nivedita.
Schools say quality comes at a price.
"Cost of all items like training aids, infrastructure and salaries has gone up. There are DA hikes of 12 per cent every year and therefore there is a recurring hike in the expenditure,'' said Captain Alokesh Sen (Retd), Prinicipal, Hyderabad Public School.
The government has stepped in and formed a five-member fee regulation committee. The panel is probing irregularities committed by school managements.
"Fee of a school should basically take care of the maintenance cost and probably a little developmental cost. It cannot be a situation where a school wants to set up a new school in one year and it wants to collect the entire developmental cost of the new school from the students in one year,'' said Navin Mittal, Collector, Hyderabad.
Schools should not become mere teaching shops. So the government wants to dictate what fee a school can charge. But the irony is that after promising the right to education, the government has not been able to get its act together to ensure quality in its own schools, pushing more and more children into the private sector.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/protesting_hike_in_school_fees.php http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1133885

Understanding of Fee Regulatory Committee report by HSPA

DPaS is the founding member of Hyderabad Schools’ Parents Association (HSPA) which is working almost round the clock on the aspect of irrational fee hikes by various schools across twin cities. Today HSPA has support of parents from over 20 plus schools like Meridian, DPS, Princess Esin, Glendale, Chirec, CAL, Niraj, Sunflower etc to name a few.

This communication is intended to clarify & clear all doubts that most parents from across schools raised during various forums including the confusion created by media. This is a summary of general understanding of HSPA members after various meetings with authorities concerned with this report (political & bureaucratic) in last few days. This is intended for information to the members only & not for general circulation & we at the most can clarify on what has been written & doesn’t necessarily be an exact replica of the report submitted (which at present is not for public circulation) to the Government of AP.

Excerpts of the Recommendation:
The expert Fee Regulatory Committee, headed by Luv Agarwal, Commissioner for Intermediate/ Collegiate Education, Navin Mittal, Hyderabad Collector, B Mallamma, Joint Secretary (Education), N Ramana Rao, Additional Secretary (law) and Narayana Reddy, Principal of a corporate school; have given the following recommendations with respect to the fee that can be charged by private schools across Andhra Pradesh:

1. Private School fee has been divided into three basic parts as:
a) One time fee (registration, admission, security caution deposit)
b) Annual recurring academic/ tuition fee and
c) Optional annual user fee.

2. One time Fee: The committee noted that several schools were collecting an amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 just for the admission application form. The committee said that since this is only administrative task the application cost should be less than Rs 100. Admission fee should not be more than Rs 500, as this entail only minor administrative cost. Schools should not collect a caution deposit of more than Rs 5,000 and it has to be refundable, the committee added.

3. Annually recurring academic/ tuition fee: No private schools in the state should be allowed to collect more than Rs 24,000 per annum for students up to Class V and Rs 30,000 per annum for students from Class VI to XII. These are upper ceilings and a specific fee for a school is applicable based on the infrastructure, facilities, education pattern, experience of teachers and more importantly the income/expenditure statement etc. The fee depending on these parameters can be anywhere between Rs 2,000/- - Rs 30,000/- per annum. This should be also read in conjunction with point 11, 13, 14 where School governing Council and PTA has lot of control to see a regulated fee hike, if necessary.

4. All cost heads like excursion, sport, activities, computer etc should be a part of this academic / tuition fee. Seeing the accounts of even several hi-end corporate schools, the committee found out that even in most expensive schools, the genuine monthly education expenses are not more than Rs 1000 – Rs 1600 per month per child. School should also consider all future growth, expansion plan and add all such related capital expenditures as a part of school annual operating cost. These developmental costs can’t be more than 15% of the overall school operating cost for basic education and should be a part of the above mentioned tuition fee.

5. This fee should be collected in phases/ terms.

6. In rural areas, this upper ceiling of tuition fee has been fixed at Rs 15,000 per annum for all classes I-XII.

7. Optional Annual User fee: To be collected in phases/ terms, this includes fee for heads like transport, food, books, uniform and hostel. They are kept outside of the upper ceiling for Annual tuition fee. They are expected to be provided by all schools, however they are termed as a “user” fee, as the student/ parents can use these services, if they find suitable/ logical. These services should be optional and should operate at no-profit basis.

8. For all books and Stationary, school should publish the address details of 3 shops, where these are available openly and competitively for parents’ comfort. School can arrange to have a counter for sell of books and stationery's in the school campus, only if they are being sold at a discount on the MRP. Same applies for Uniform.

9. The User fee would be decided based on usage i.e. transportation fee should be charged based on the distance between the house & school and not by the management’s whims and fancies.

10. Fee revision Process: The Annually recurring academic/ tuition fee structure can be revised only once in 3 years.

11. Schools should also give official fee receipts in the name of the school only.

12. Governance Structure: The panel recommended Constitution of district-level fee regulatory committees. If the school management wants to increase the fee, it will have to seek the approval of this fee regulatory authority with collector, joint collector, DEO, a senior finance resource (who can audit school balance sheets) and other officials as members.

13. The committee has reiterated that as defined in existing GO – MS1, there should be a Governing council in every school that includes representatives from parents, teachers and management. As already defined in existing GO– MS1, an active Parent Teacher Association (PTA) should be constituted for every school and it should be consulted on the fee hike as a first step. PTA should review and discuss hiked fee based on income and expense statement. The fee hike proposed can’t be hiked more than the increase in Consumer Price Index as inflation can still be negative, while the CPI may be positive. Even considering CPI, this increase can’t be more than 15% over previous fee, on a maximum side.

14. Optional Annual user fee structure also needs to follow the review with PTA and School Governing council and a need based increase based on income and expense statement.

15. Based on PTA’s positive acceptance, the Governing council, as mentioned above, should approach the district fee regulatory authority with all the accounts on income and expenditure based on which district fee regulatory authority should approve the hike. Once approved, this fee will remain applicable for 3 years and can’t be changed in any circumstances.

16. If PTA does not agree with the recommended level of hike (as the income and expense statement may not support the necessary hike), then the PTA can raise the complaint with the district-level fee regulatory committee in this context.

17. Aggrieved parents are also entitled to approach the fee regulatory committee, if they have any grievances pertaining to fees.

18. Time-table: The Governing councils should approach the fee regulatory authority by September and a decision will be taken by the authority by December every year. The hiked fee will come into force during the next academic year. For an example, the Governing councils should approach the district fee regulatory authority by September 2009 and a decision should be taken by the district fee regulatory authority by December 2009. The hiked fee will come into force during the next academic year April 2010 till March 2011 and will remain applicable till March 2013. In Sept 2012, the School Governing Council can start the process again, if a hike is needed.

19. Enforcement: In case of district fee regulatory committee finds any anomaly in implementing these suggestions, the affiliation of school can be terminated. In case of CBSE/ IGCSE affiliated school, the NOC issued by District Education department can be withheld.

20. Applicability of these recommendations in current year’s context: The expert panel recommended that the fee prescribed for the last academic year (2008-09) would stand good for this year (2009-10). All private schools should roll back the hiked fee for this year. In case parents have already paid the hiked fee, the extra amount will have to be adjusted in the coming academic year.

21. General: Schools will have do away with names such as “concept schools”, “techno schools” etc. They should be named as primary, upper primary, high schools and public schools.

All these recommendations are in tune with the AP Regulation of Education and Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act 1983. If the government accepts the recommendations which are based on Section 15 read with Section 37 of the AP Educational Institutions Regulation of Admission and Prohibition of Capitation Fee, 1983, the private schools will have to implement it.

July 07, 2009

HSPA meeting with CM

HSPA meeting with Dr YS Rajshekar Reddy & Sri Danam Nagender covered in todays Sakshi news paper.

July 06, 2009

Thanks a Million from HSPA

Hyderabad Schools Parents Association (HSPA) thanks to those 250plus parents who turned up this morning to meet our Hon'ble Chief Minister at his Camp Office to insist on him to accept the Fee Regulatory Committee recommendations immediately with out delay nor any change in the present format.

We also thank Sri Danam Nagender, Health Minister, Govt of AP who has made this possible & has been supporting parents from various sections for quite sometime.

As most of you know today being the first day of the week & 8am happens to clash the work & school timings, it has been very tough on our part also to accept such a challenge & trust us, all of you made us wrong by coming in huge numbers, keeping aside other works for couple of hours, just to make sure we're there for the societal cause. We know how difficult it could be for those ladies, who turned up in large numbers & made definite impact on the authorities concerned.

This is the way of life & we've almost reached & the last few meters is always tough & only you can make the difference now. If, the committee recommendations get implemented as it is, we're sure its a historic win for each & every parent in this state & for the government as well lead by Dr. YS Rajashekar Reddy. Such strong recommendations are coming up for the first time by any committee on this subject, in any state.

Lets raise to the occasion, when required now onwards .... Together we can do it.
DPaS is the founder member of HSPA, which today is supported by over 20 plus schools & is growing.

July 05, 2009

Open invitation to Parents in AP from HSPA

Meeting with Chief Minister - 6th July (Mon), 8 AM: Roll back hiked School fee, recommends Fee Regulatory Committee appointed by State Government.
The efforts of HSPA & various School Parent Associations have started showing positive results in last 6-8 weeks. In far-reaching recommendations that could rationalize school fee, the five-member Fee Regulatory Committee, appointed by the state government, has said in a significant development that a member of Parent-Teachers Association should be inducted into the Governing board of each educational institution, which will fix the fee.

We have summarized these recommendations below. Cheers to all parents who had faith and provided their support to HSPA Core committee members. We must remember that it’s a significant milestone, but this is still a set of recommendations to the state government and hence to get this implemented on priority, we have fixed a meet with the Chief Minister Sri Y S Rajasekhar Reddy to:
1. Thank him for ensuring quick delivery of report
2. Urge him for speedy and efficient implementation of these recommendations at AP state level

Date: Monday, July 6th 2009 at 8.00 am (assemble by 7.45am)
Venue: Chief Minister's Camp Office, Next to Walden Book Shop, Opposite ITC Grand Kakatiya, Greenlands - Somajiguda Road, Hyderabad.

We need to gather in large numbers & showcase to CM that this issue is critical to all of us and hence every parent is expected to come forward and participate in this meet. Till now whatever positives have come out is totally due to the commitment and hard work of few individuals. Now that the movement is reaching towards a critical stage, we would request the parents to come out and support.. “Its important to all of us”… not just to few of us… Please gather parents from your school tomorrow and show solidarity….

For Hyderabad Schools Parent Association (HSPA)
An association for Hyderabad parents, who are committed to bring some change in the society!! Are you doing your bit??

Can you do your bit by informing atleast 5 parents from your mobile’s contact list and confirm back to us that they will join tomorrow and that they have registered with their school Parent Association??

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In far-reaching recommendations that could rationalize school fee, the five-member Fee Regulatory Committee appointed by the state government has said in a significant development that is likely to bring cheer to beleaguered parents, the expert committee on school fee regulation has suggested that a member of Parent-Teachers Association should be inducted into the governing board of each educational institution, which will fix the fee. This recommendation forms part of a 14-page report submitted by a five-member expert committee constituted last month by the government to study school fee structure in private educational institutions.
The expert Fee Regulatory Committee, headed by commissioner for Intermediate/ collegiate education Luv Agarwal, Hyderabad collector Navin Mittal, joint secretary (education) B Mallamma, additional secretary (law) N Ramana Rao and a corporate school principal Narayana Reddy; said that:
- No private schools in the state should be allowed to collect more than Rs 24,000 per annum for students up to Class V and Rs 30,000 per annum for students from Class VI to X. These are upper ceilings.
- In rural areas, it has ruled for a uniform fee of Rs 15,000 per annum from classes I-XII. However, the user fee (which includes transport, food, books, uniform and hostel) has been excluded from this limit.
- The fee structure should be revised only once in 3 years. Schools should also give official fee receipts. - The fee was categorised into three basic units of registration fee, tuition fee and user fee. While the registration fee will be a one-time fee, the tuition fee hike cannot be more than 15 per cent of previous year.
- The expert panel recommended that the fee prescribed for the last academic year (2008-09) would stand good for this year (2009-10). All private schools should roll back the hiked fee for this year. In case parents have already paid the hiked fee, the extra amount will have to be adjusted in the coming academic year.
- Schools will have do away with names such as “concept schools”, “techno schools” etc. They should be named as primary, upper primary, high schools and public schools.
- The panel also recommended constitution of district-level fee regulatory committees. If the school management wants to increase the fee, it will have to seek the approval of this fee regulatory authority with collector, joint collector, DEO and other officials as members.
- The committee has reiterated that as per existing GO – MS1, there should be a governing council in every school that includes representatives from parents, teachers and management. A Parent Teacher Association (PTA) should be set up and it should be consulted on the fee hike as a first step. Based on PTA’s decision, the governing council should approach the fee regulatory authority with all the accounts on income and expenditure based on which it will approve the hike.
- The governing councils should approach the fee regulatory authority by September and a decision will be taken by the authority by December every year. The hiked fee will come into force during the next academic year.
- The committee noted that several schools were collecting an amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 just for the admission application form. The committee said the application cost should be less than Rs 100.
- Schools should not collect a caution deposit of more than Rs 5,000 and it has to be refundable, the committee added.
- Aggrieved parents are entitled to approach the fee regulatory committee, if they have any grievances pertaining to fees.
- The overhead costs such as transportation would be decided based on the distance and not by the management’s whims and fancies.

All these recommendations are in tune with the AP Regulation of Education and Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act 1983. If the government accepts the recommendations which are based on Section 15 read with Section 37 of the AP Educational Institutions Regulation of Admission and Prohibition of Capitation Fee, 1983, the private schools will have to implement it.

Meeting with CM

Parents from across the schools in AP are requested to gather in large numbers to meet our Chief Minister & show our solidarity & impress upon him to make sure the committee recommendations are implemented immediately with out any dilution.

Meeting will be at
CMs camp office (next to Pulla Reddy sweets & Walden) @ 8 AM on 6th July, 2009.

Your presence will make huge difference & you can be assured on being part of this historic win against the erring managements, who wanted to commercialise the required fundamental right to have children educated.

Lets spread, gather & make this a success.

July 04, 2009

Re-schedule of the meeting with CM

Parents

Due to unforeseen circumstances the proposed meeting with CM for 5th July is now postponed to
6th July, 2009 (Monday) @ 8am in CM Camp Office
(next to Pulla Reddy Sweets & Walden in Somajiguda)

I know how difficult it is for all of us to make it on a monday morning leaving the official & personal priorities, but meeting our CM & getting our issues to logical resolution is more important than any other issue that may pull us down today.

Think over, what can, sparing 2 hours on one day from your busy schedule, can do for you & the society ??? Please spread this message to all your contacts & request all parents from across the schools to gather in large numbers on monday morning to start a fresh lease of life.

Committee recomends for Parents in AP

  • You stood by braving the hot summer sun for days together like nomads ?
  • You stood by the core team working for you, in every step forward.
  • You said we're fighting not against an individual but for creating a better society in this nation.
  • You only wanted what is the best & value for money to your child & the future of this country.
Never mind what every one felt, we stood, braved & showed the world what we can all together can do. The committee formed by the AP State Government had given recommendations, which came open in the press stood almost close to what we wanted. Congratulations to all Parents for making this moral boosting win & remember the fight is much bigger now as we inch closer to the real win.
For those of you who missed it, below are the links for various news papers in English & Telugu which carried the news in Prime pages today.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Hyderabad/Roll-back-hiked-school-fee-rules-panel/articleshow/4736556.cms
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/rs-30000-cap-yearly-fee-532
http://sakshi.com/main/SportsDetailsNormal.aspx?catid=267591&categoryid=1&subcatid=33
http://eenadu.net/panelhtml.asp?qrystr=htm/panel7.htm
http://www.vaarttha.com/vaarttha/hed11.asp
http://www.andhrajyothy.com/mainshow.asp?qry=/2009/jul/3main22

Now the way to win - Only you can do it now.
Please gather in large numbers tomorrow ie
5th July, 2009 @ CMs Camp Office at 8AM
(near Pulla Reddy Sweets, Greenlands, Somajiguda)
Who knows this may be the last chance for us to make this report into a G.O & mind this is for all schools in the state & any school parent is invited ... spread, gather & come without any excuse.