Vijayawada: Private schools seek government assistance

Vijayawada: The joint action committee of the managements of the Andhra Pradesh Private Unaided Schools Managements Association (APPUSMA) appealed to the state government to help them to restart their educational institution.

Addressing the media here on Saturday, general secretary of APPUSMA K Tulasi Vishnu Prasad requested the state government to announce an academic calendar with the syllabus and working days for schools also as it did with the Intermediate course. "There should be a clear- cut policy to organise online classes," he said.

Once the government announces the reduced syllabus, the teachers and the parents would have an idea and the children would be sent to schools, he pointed out. The general secretary said that the government should provide loans through commercial banks to the schools depending upon their size to help the managements tide over the financial problems caused by Covid-19 pandemic.

The teachers of the unaided schools should also be helped like the other classes of people who were helped by the government, he said. "The children of white ration cardholders studying in private schools should also be extended Vidya Kanuka," he suggested.

Vishnu Prasad appealed to the government to postpone the renewal of schools for one year in view of the present situation. Honorary president of the Andhra Pradesh Private Schools Association V Sundar Rao suggested classification of schools into three categories — corporate, budget and semi-budget —and the budget and semi-budget schools should be helped to overcome the crisis.

The budget schools should be exempted from the supervision of the Fee Regulation Monitoring Committee, he said.

Gajuwaka Independent Private Schools Association leader P Bhaskara Rao deplored that the teachers did not receive salaries during the lockdown period since the schools were closed.

The member schools are burdened with various types of taxes, and are unable to repay the loans to the banks, he pointed out.

The power tariff should be changed from category two, he appealed to the government. Vijayawada Children's Schools and Tutorials Association leader M Srinivasa Rao appealed to the government to exempt the school buses from road tax and insurance considering it as a stoppage period. The finance companies were bringing pressure to pay the EMIs, he said and appealed to the government to give instructions to them.

L Jogi Rami Reddy, K Srikanth, M Appaji, M Vijay Kumar, Anil Kumar, Mohan Rao and others were present.