Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

High fee plagues Sainik school admissions

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lack of financial assistance and an exorbitant fee structure are adversely affecting the recruitment of prospective students to Sainik School, Kazhakuttam.

“A student of the school today has to pay more than Rs.42,000 as tuition fee every year. This has made the institution out of reach of the common man,” said P. Premachandran Pillai, president, Sainik School Parents Association. “The fee is higher than that of the fees for professional courses in a private college in the State. Because of this high expenditure, parents are now reluctant to seek admissions to Sainik schools. This has, in turn, affected the quality of students joining the schools. Only children belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities are getting adequate financial aid from their respective welfare boards,” Mr. Pillai said.

At a press conference held in the city recently, K. Sathyan, secretary of the association, said till 1998, the State government had been allotting an amount equivalent to that of tuition fee as scholarship to the students. However, the fee was hiked by 10 per cent every year since. This practice was quite unlike Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya where education was free, he said. “Even the salary for the staff in Sainik schools is collected from the 600-odd students studying here,” Mr. Sathyan said.

“We have already brought the issue to the notice of both Education Minister M.A. Baby and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.”

The association has also decided to organise a Secretariat march on Saturday urging the State government to intervene in the matter. The association had already submitted a memorandum to A.K. Antony, Union Minister for Defence, highlighting the issue.

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