Siddaramaiah accuses govt of being hand-in-glove with private schools

Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday accused the BJP government in Karnataka of being 'hand-in-glove' with private educational institutions which were allegedly overcharging students.

In a series of tweets, the Congress leader slammed Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar for allegedly not having control over private education institutions.

He alleged that schools were forcing parents to pay full school fees and threatening to stop online classes if they did not comply with it and said the government was silent on the issue.

"Schools are charging even extra curricular fees on top of teaching fees. This is an additional burden on parents. The @BJP4Karnataka is hand in gloves with the institutions," Siddaramaiah, who is Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly tweeted.

He sought the intervention of the Chief Minister and the Primary and Secondary Education Minister to resolve the issue at the earliest.

Meanwhile, a group of parents staged a demonstration here, holding placards and banners and raised slogans against private educational institutions for overcharging.

The mother of a student at the protest venue, said this month she was not able to pay fees because her husband, the sole earning member, had lost his job as a fallout of Covid-19 lockdown and alleged the management did not allow her son to appear for the half-yearly exams.