The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ST students in a dilemma

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Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

ST students in a dilemma

Avadhani

School denies admission on grounds of inadequate fee amount

Tribal Welfare Department pays Rs, 13,200 each to high school students
BC Welfare Department pays Rs. 20,000 per student to the school

-MOHD. ARIF

At a loss: The tribal students waiting to meet district officials at the Collectorate in Sangareddy.

SANGAREDDY: Rajeswari, aged about 14, came to the Collectorate on Tuesday along with her mother, worried about her future and her admission to Class X.

“Shall I continue my education? Where to go from here? Who will address our problem? Why we are being forced to move from pillar to post? Why not the issue be addressed before the commencement of the academic year?” are the questions posed by her to the media.

She is among the group of 60 students who are studying in St. Joseph High School at Sangareddy since last year. The school management refused to admit them this academic year stating that the amount being paid by the Tribal Welfare Department was not sufficient to bear the costs.

The department has been paying Rs. 8,800 for Class VI and VII students and Rs. 13,200 for students studying Class VIII, IX and X to the school management under Best Available School scheme. On the other hand, the BC Welfare Department has been paying Rs. 20,000 as the cost for each BC student studying in the same school.

The argument of the school management was that when the BC Welfare Department has been paying Rs. 20,000 for each of its candidate, why not the Tribal Welfare Department do likewise.

Decision to shift

With the pressure being mounted by the school management, few students along with parents on Tuesday came to the Collectorate to present their case before the authorities.

They met District Revenue Officer B.S.V.V.S. Murthy to address their problem. Initially, it was decided to shift the students to another school which was ready to accommodate them with the fee that was allocated to them.

Collector Peeyush Kumar decided to shift these students to the Social Welfare hostel located at Narsapur after the day-long drama.

Tribal Welfare Officer Ms. Chanchala Devi admitted that officials at the State-level had not responded positively to the issue of enhancement of fee amount, though it was being raised from the past one year. “I had written four letters in the past one year to our office at Hyderabad on this,” she said.

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