HYDERABAD: The government will derecognize schools which carry fancy titles like "Techno", "Olympiad" or "International", a top official announced on Friday. The secondary education department has ordered schools to remove all such qualifying terms that are used to attract students or face immediate action.
"The schools teach the syllabus which the state board prescribes. There is no value addition in education happening here. The names are meant to mislead parents," said Usha Rani, director of school education (DSE).
Thousands of schools in the state have fancy names like "Techno school," "IIT academy," "Olympiad school" or "International school", though they teach the state board syllabus without any value addition.
Officials said these schools have a higher fee structure ranging anywhere between Rs 45,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh per annum and said the department had acted upon petitions against such schools.
The move leaves several prominent schools in the state with no option but to change the names or move court against the order. "It's a management decision of naming schools and the names are justified due to the kind of quality of education they provide," said a spokesman of the Narayana group of institutions. Other institution heads said they are consulting the legal experts for the next course of action.
Meanwhile, Usha Rani said two years ago, the government had issued a circular asking school managements to drop the names, but this was not followed as the penalty for non-adherence was a meagre fine of Rs 10,000. "If they continue to carry the misleading titles this year, the department will cancel recognition," said Rani.
A senior official with the department said school managements have been naming their institutions without consulting the concerned authorities.
"The managements obtain recognition under one name, but as part of their marketing strategy, they change the name to something fancier, which is an offence under the AP Education Act," said an official.
Child rights organizations which have been fighting for a change in the naming system said the order could bring about a desired change in the education system in the state.
"School education in the state has become a lucrative business and hence the growth of institutions which use fancy names to set themselves apart. Once they drop their fancy titles the managements will really have to work hard to give the institutions an edge over others," said Achyuta Rao, president of Balalahakkula Sangham, a child rights NGO.
Smaller schools in the city also welcomed the move and said using fancy titles, the corporate schools in the city have been attracting a lot of students.
"This had caused the death of several regular schools which used to give good education at a low cost. We have been opposing the fancy names for several years," said S Srinivas Reddy, president, Recognized Schools Managements' Association.
"The schools teach the syllabus which the state board prescribes. There is no value addition in education happening here. The names are meant to mislead parents," said Usha Rani, director of school education (DSE).
Thousands of schools in the state have fancy names like "Techno school," "IIT academy," "Olympiad school" or "International school", though they teach the state board syllabus without any value addition.
Officials said these schools have a higher fee structure ranging anywhere between Rs 45,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh per annum and said the department had acted upon petitions against such schools.
The move leaves several prominent schools in the state with no option but to change the names or move court against the order. "It's a management decision of naming schools and the names are justified due to the kind of quality of education they provide," said a spokesman of the Narayana group of institutions. Other institution heads said they are consulting the legal experts for the next course of action.
Meanwhile, Usha Rani said two years ago, the government had issued a circular asking school managements to drop the names, but this was not followed as the penalty for non-adherence was a meagre fine of Rs 10,000. "If they continue to carry the misleading titles this year, the department will cancel recognition," said Rani.
A senior official with the department said school managements have been naming their institutions without consulting the concerned authorities.
"The managements obtain recognition under one name, but as part of their marketing strategy, they change the name to something fancier, which is an offence under the AP Education Act," said an official.
Child rights organizations which have been fighting for a change in the naming system said the order could bring about a desired change in the education system in the state.
"School education in the state has become a lucrative business and hence the growth of institutions which use fancy names to set themselves apart. Once they drop their fancy titles the managements will really have to work hard to give the institutions an edge over others," said Achyuta Rao, president of Balalahakkula Sangham, a child rights NGO.
Smaller schools in the city also welcomed the move and said using fancy titles, the corporate schools in the city have been attracting a lot of students.
"This had caused the death of several regular schools which used to give good education at a low cost. We have been opposing the fancy names for several years," said S Srinivas Reddy, president, Recognized Schools Managements' Association.
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