Hyderabad: Private schools, colleges use police to quell parents & staff protests

Hyderabad: The private school and college managements are nowadays use police force to quell the protests by students' parents and staff members by projecting it as a law and order problem.

The current laws in force are not able prevent the school and college managements from collecting the excess fee from the parents making the same ineffective.

For example, parents have been registering their resentment and staging protests against the school managements collecting excess fees in violation of the State government directives. The schools are calling police to deal with the protesting parents, even when their number is few.

Similarly, teachers and faculty members of several schools and colleges have been staging protests for non-payment of salaries for the last several months.

Speaking to The Hans India, Ramanjeet Singh of Hyderabad Schools Parents' Association (HSPA) said, "Police have no role to play in the issue. It is not a law and order problem. But, what is happening is contrary. Police should not intervene in such issues, just because school management called them. Maximum they can take the view of the protesting parents and leave that matter."

Similarly, a private engineering college management has lodged a complaint with the Ibrahimpatnam police against the faculty members who have staged a protest for non-payment of salaries.

The Telangana Schools, Technical Colleges Employees Association (TSTCEA), president A Santhosh Kumar said that the faculty members were called to the police station for recording their clarification. Because the management complained that the protecting faculty had abused them.

When asked Rama Laxmi, a parent said that the schools are placing several restrictions on parents. This includes, parents are not supposed to form a WhatsApp or any other groups. Even if they do so, they should not openly discuss the issue of fee hike in the group. That apart, should not talk about the removal of any student from the online classes for failing to pay the fee demanded by the school.

The schools are trying every trick in the book to silence the parents. Besides, any parent trying to organise the others to submit a representation on fee hike, or asking other parents to support a protest on the issue are viewed as a potential danger. Faced with threats of removal of two students of primary classes, a parent had now sought the intervention of the State Human Rights Commission seeking relief, she said.

The parents and faculty members argue that the schools' and college managements are trying to rope in police in the name of law and order problem, on one pretext, or the other. But, the real motive was, to create fear among the parents. So that they do not dare to raise their voice next time.