Andhra Pradesh - Eluru   

Probe into ‘collection of hefty fee' by school

ELURU: District Education Officer K. Ravindranath Reddy on Wednesday conducted an inquiry into the complaints of collection of hefty amounts of fee from students by the management of St. Theresa's Elementary School in the city allegedly in violation of the government guidelines. Eluru Deputy Educational Officer Z. Krupakar assisted the DEO during the inquiry. The inquiry was a follow-up on a petition submitted by a section of parents to district Collector G. Vani Mohan.

Sources said in course of eliciting information from headmistress of the elementary school and headmistress of the high school, it was found that the school management was collecting around Rs 11,000 from parents for each LKG student which was reportedly on the high side when compared to any other school in the city. The DEO and the Deputy Education Officer took objection to this.

Besides, reported collection of Rs 1,200 from LKG students for distribution of textbooks and note books drew flak from officials. The DEO sought to know the number of textbooks and notebooks prescribed for the LKG students and their price from the school authorities.

It was said that Mr. Krupakar had estimated that the school management was collecting over Rs. 70 lakh from 700 students from LKG to Class V every year towards fee in different forms.

The school was established on a piece of prime land which was donated by a philanthropist Chigurupati Sita Devi, wife of a Gandhian and former minister Ch.V.P. Murthy Raju with an objective to run it on service lines. The DEO asked the management to reimburse the fee collected illegally under certain categories to students.

N. Babu Ramesh Chand and Srinivas, who petitioned the Collector, said the school authorities had failed to provide even potable drinking water and play material for the LKG and UKG students in spite of collecting hefty amounts of fee.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Probe into ‘collection of hefty fee' by school
Rytanga Samakhya to stage protest in Delhi

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu