Hyderabad: As more schools in Hyderabad and other parts of the country are being acquired by private equity (PE) firms, parents allege that accountability, accessibility to school management and the quality of education have suffered, even as fees have increased exponentially. They also alleged that several schools are failing to maintain the mandated student-teacher ratio, while some subjects go without specialist teachers for months.“In the last academic year, my child did not have a French teacher for about three months. Further, while the global average class size in IB schools is between 15 and 20 students, here we have close to 30 students in a class, unlike earlier. Even the quality of teachers is pretty average, as many are leaving the school for better opportunities,” said Riddhima V, whose child is studying in Class 7 at a city school run by a PE fund.In Telangana, around 10 well-known family-run schools have been acquired by PE funds over the past few years in deals worth hundreds of crores. Many of these schools charge hefty fees, with some collecting more than Rs 10 lakh a year. “The fee we pay and the quality we get are not in sync. We pay about Rs 11 lakh per annum for my child, and the school doesn’t even have proper teachers. Academics are poor and so are extracurricular activities. It feels like they are cutting costs at the expense of quality,” said Shwetha K, another parent whose child studies at a CBSE school in the city.Another parent, requesting anonymity, said her son’s school does not allow parents to interact directly with teachers. “All communication has to go through coordinators. At a time when even smaller schools allow parents to meet teachers and clear their doubts, we are forced to hire private tutors because teachers are not approachable. The same applies to the management, which is also unresponsive. This was not the case when the chairperson was present on the campus before the PE firm took over,” the parent claimed.The issue, however, is not limited to schools in Hyderabad. The India Wide Parents Association said it has been receiving similar complaints from parents in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and other cities. “We don’t even understand how PE funds are entering the education sector. As per the rules, schools have to be run by societies. PE firms are coming in, charging exorbitant fees and not even paying teachers properly. There is a need for the govt to stop this and ensure that all schools provide quality education,” said Anubha Sahai, president of the association.Meanwhile, managements maintain that PE investments have helped improve school infrastructure and are positioning these institutions on the global map by striving to bring them up to international standards.
