HYDERABAD: The Telangana Recognised Schools Managements Association (TRSMA) on Sunday clarified that unaided private schools do not fall under the ambit of the Right to Information Act, 2005, as they are not funded or controlled by the government.

This issue has come to the forefront, as in recent times, a few individuals, for harassment and extortion, have filed applications seeking private, administrative and staff-related information of the schools.

Expressing serious concern over the misuse of RTI, S Madhusudan, president, TRSMA, said, “That such information is exempt under Section 8(1)(d) and 8(1)(j) and this trend is causing the Education Department and school managements to waste lakhs of man-hours unproductively, affecting the smooth functioning of schools and also clarified that unaided private schools do not fall under the ambit of the RTI Act, 2005, as they are not funded or controlled by the government.”

The members also submitted a representation letter to the state government. TRSMA president Madhusudan appealed to authorities to prevent the misuse of RTI provisions and protect unaided schools from unwarranted pressure and harassment.