Branding of school just to increase fees

Hyderabad: How do corporate schools indulge in branding of their institutions and collect high fees presents an interesting story.

Speaking to Hans India, Sridhar Goreti (name changed) principal of a top corporate school located in Jubilee Hills said, “Our school has three branches across the city and the admissions for high school classes were over in January-February for the ensuing academic year.”

Not just his school but most of the private schools affliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Examination(ICSE), Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) had closed admissions. The latest fancy for parents was seeking admission in the International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, he said.

What the parents do not know is that though the schools advertise that they are affiliated to various boards the fact of the matter is that the recognition is given only for classes from IX onwards. For the lower classes the syllabus of these boards may be followed but none of these schools are given recognition by board from LKG level said Deepak (name changed) who is launching a new school in Cyberabad.

Deepak said the CBSE by-laws say that it would grant recognition to a school to start Class X to XII if it has classes upto IX. Other than that, the CBSE directly would not accord recognition to any school from LKG to Class IX. It is only the state education department which gives recognition to school from LKG to class X.

Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSTUF), general secretary, Chava Ravi said a recognised school means one where it implements the syllabus of that board. If it is state syllabus then the examinations are conducted by the District Examination Board (DEB). The marks obtained in the primary to the high school level till Class IX will have to be uploaded on the State School Education Department (SSED) portal.

Similarly, the ICSE too would not provide any recognition to a school from LKG to Class IX. Though the schools claim they are recognised by CBSE or ICSE it is for branding purpose. The examinations up to class IX are conducted not by the boards but the schools.

But when it comes to collection of fees, they claim they are recognised by these boards and charge exorbitant fees.