Pvt schools plan summer classes to retain students

HYDERABAD: Bad news for school students this year. Several state board schools in the city have opted for shorter summer vacations by beginning classes for the coming academic year soon after the annual examinations end in April. 

So, summer vacations that were scheduled from April 24 to June 12 have now shrunk to a barely 40-day break with schools holding classes until May 1 or in some cases even up to May 15. Several school managements have already informed parents that the classes for the new academic year would begin from April 1. 

Parents, however, allege that the schools have announced this as a measure to retain students. "The managements have asked us to pay for textbooks and uniforms for the coming academic year right at the beginning of April. This would mean that we will not be able to shift our children to other schools during the vacation," rued L Sambasiva Rao, a parent. 

School managements tell another story. They explain that they will run classes till May so that the parents who have not paid up the fee for the coming academic year pay it by May. "We do not give report cards of students if the parents have not paid up the fee. Hence we conduct classes till May 1 to get them pay the due amount," said a school management representative who didn't want to be named. 

Among the schools that have decided to conduct classes in summer are corporate schools like Narayana Techno Schools, Sri Chaitanya Techno Schools, Gautam Group of Schools, Krishnaveni Group of Schools and Keshav Reddy Group of Schools. Only Students of these schools between classes VI and X would have to attend summer classes. In smaller private schools however, like Genius Grammar School, Dilshuknagar and Sradha High School, Ramananthpur which have also decided to conduct summer classes, all students between classes II and X would have to attend summer classes. 

"We will take action against schools which do not follow the prescribed almanac. Vacation classes are strictly prohibited," said DEO P Suseendra Rao. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Pvt-schools-plan-summer-classes-to-retain-students/articleshow/7745561.cms