Representatives of private and unaided schools managements’ associations, who were part of a two-day conference held in Vijayawada city to discuss the implications of the recent developments in the school education sector and their impact on their functioning, resolved to collectively oppose them with a slogan ‘Save Education, Save Schools’.

The conference, organised by the Andhra Pradesh Private and Unaided Schools’ Managements’ Association (APPUSMA), was attended by representatives of the National Independent Schools’ Alliance (NISA), the Telangana Recognised School Managements’ Association (TRSMA) and other organisations from Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Taking strong exception to the new fee structure, they said that when compared to the average money spent on each student in government schools, the private schools impart quality education for reasonable fees.

Citing the set of rules and regulations followed by private schools, they said the same norms did not apply to the government schools. They also took objection to certain changes like the reintroduction of the practice of awarding marks to students, instead of grades.

Regulating fee structure for private schools without consulting the managements was not right, they said, adding that a uniform fee policy for schools of different categories was ‘irrational’.

NISA president Kulbhushan Sharma, TRSMA president Sekhar Rao, APPUSMA president M.V. Ramachandra Reddy, and general secretary Tulasi Vishnu Prasad spoke at the conference.

Meanwhile, members of the Private Recognised Aided School Managements Association (PRASMA) expressed grave concern over reports of the merger of their schools. At a meeting held in Guntur on Sunday, school correspondents from Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool and Nellore districts cited reports suggesting the proposed merger.

The Association’s State leader M. Anjaiah, however, allayed their fears saying that GO 50 issued by the Commissioner of School Education Department, clearly stated that only schools that did not have sufficient number of children would be merged with the consent of the management.