Telangana People’s Front Seeks School Fee Regulation Bill

Core News & Key Facts

The Telangana People’s Front, a citizens’ group comprising former bureaucrats, academics, activists and working professionals, has urged the Telangana government to introduce and pass a Bill regulating fees in private unaided schools during the upcoming Assembly session.

The group made the demand at a round-table meeting on school fee regulation and strengthening public education held on August 14, 2026. Former IAS officer and Telangana People’s Front member Akunuri Murali said the Telangana Education Commission had submitted a draft of the proposed Telangana Private Unaided School Fee Regulatory and Monitoring Commission Bill to the state government in January 2025. According to the group, no action had been taken on the draft since its submission.

Murali said the organisation intends to work with parents and build pressure for the legislation to become an election issue.

Context & Official Statements

The Telangana People’s Front cited figures from the Union Education Ministry’s UDISE Plus 2025-26 report to highlight the growing dependence on private schools in the State.

According to the data cited by the group, Telangana has 41,762 schools, with private unaided recognised schools accounting for around 32% of the total. However, about 65% of the State’s nearly 77 lakh students from pre-primary to Class 12 are enrolled in private schools.

The proportion of students in private schools has increased from 60% in 2023-24 to 65% in 2025-26, even though the number of private schools reportedly declined by more than 1,100 during the same period. Among 6.4 lakh students admitted to Class 1 in 2025-26, around 70% were enrolled in private schools.

Murali also pointed to government-school infrastructure and staffing concerns. He said nearly 82% of primary schools in Telangana have multi-grade teaching, in which one teacher teaches students from different grades in the same classroom.

Impact & What to Expect Next

Under the proposed legislation, a regulatory commission would classify private schools according to factors including location, land area, infrastructure, extracurricular facilities, teachers and school leadership. It would then prescribe an upper fee limit for each category.

The Telangana People’s Front has also called for increased government spending on public-school infrastructure. It wants district-wise annual report cards covering government-school enrolment, staffing and learning outcomes to be published.

The demands come amid continuing concerns about the cost of private education in Telangana, particularly in Hyderabad, where private school fees remain largely unregulated. The group is now seeking government action on the draft Bill and plans to work with parents to build wider support for regulation.