THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of widespread complaints that Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) and School Management Committees (SMCs) were forcing students to contribute money for various school development-related projects, the government has brought out strict guidelines on their functioning.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty said PTAs and SMCs have been directed not to exceed the specific roles assigned to them or interfere in the day-to-day administrative and academic matters of schools. He reminded that the role of both bodies was to assist school authorities in implementing development projects as per the wishes of the parents and the general public.
Cracking down on indiscriminate fund collection for various purposes, the guidelines have prescribed the maximum amount that can be collected from students in various sections for specific academic needs.
While the collections should be limited to Rs 20 and Rs50 for LP and UP sections, the ceiling for such collections would be Rs 100 and Rs 400 for High School and Higher Secondary/Vocational Higher Secondary sections respectively.
The guidelines state that the fund collection should not be compulsory and no child should be denied admission for not contributing the funds demanded by PTAs or SMCs. While clarifying that it was mandatory for parents to take PTA membership annually, the guidelines also lay down the membership fees for various categories.
The guidelines have also fixed three years as the maximum continuous terms for a PTA president. The guidelines state that if PTAs have complaints over the functioning of the schools, it should be raised before the general education department official concerned.