The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : More money for school admission resented

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 15, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

More money for school admission resented

K. Manikandan

TAMBARAM: Student activists and a section of parents have objected to the practice of government schools collecting fairly large sums of money in addition to the annual fee at the time of admitting children.

Officials of the Education Department, however, said the amount collected was only nominal and it was spent to recruit teachers and improve facilities in the schools.

Apart from the nominal annual fee ranging from Rs. 17.50 onwards, parents are asked to pay amounts between Rs. 300 and Rs. 800 at the time of admission. In some popular government schools, parents end up paying Rs. 2,500 to get their children admitted in English medium.

Of 48 Government Higher Secondary and 45 High Schools in the Chengalpattu educational district, a good number are in the southern suburbs of Chennai. Admissions in these schools began in the first week of this month. The demand is for admission to VI and IX Standards.

The process begins with the purchase of application forms, sold at Rs. 10 each. The cost of the forms, however, is not mentioned in the forms and parents say that no receipt is issued.

Further, parents pay Rs. 25 for becoming a member of the Parent Teacher Association. A Government Higher Secondary School near Tambaram collected Rs. 2,500 from parents who wanted to admit their children in the English medium stream. A parent told reporters on Monday that after a recommendation, the amount was reduced to Rs. 1,500.

Application forms

Student activists objected to the sale of application forms and collection of money as school or building development fund.

Members of the Students Federation of India said the Tamil Nadu Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Collection of Capitation Fee) Act, 1992, prohibited government schools from demanding money from parents.

“Collecting money [by the school] is a blatant violation of this law,” G. Selva, secretary of the SFI, said. They would be staging a protest demonstration on June 20.

Senior officials of the Education Department said the amount collected would be spent on appointing additional teachers .

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