TIRUCHY: A complaint alleging that Government Higher Secondary School, Amanakampatti, in Marungapuri block collected Rs 400 from each student towards school expenses, including question paper printing and other examination-related purposes, has put the long-standing practice of collecting ‘nominal amounts’ for internal examinations in government schools under the spotlight.
The Tiruchy School Education Department has asked the District Educational Officer (DEO) to verify the allegation, while reiterating that government schools are officially permitted to collect only the Rs 50 for Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) fee.
K Natarajan, vice-chairperson of the School Management Committee (SMC) at the school in question, which has around 400 students from Classes VI to XII, petitioned the Joint Director of School Education and the Tiruchy Chief Educational Officer (CEO), alleging that the headmistress collected Rs 400 in violation of government norms. “When I questioned the teachers, they told the amount was being collected for examination purposes and other miscellaneous expenses,” he told TNIE.
Natarajan further alleged that the issue was never placed before the SMC despite him being its V-C and claimed that no receipts were issued for the collection. He sought a refund of the money allegedly collected and action against the headmistress.
School officials, however, denied the allegations. Responding to the complaint, School Education Department officials told TNIE that the DEO had been asked to verify the allegations. “Schools are authorised to collect only the PTA fee. No instructions have been issued this academic year to collect any amount for examinations. Appropriate action will be taken based on the findings,” an official said.
Officials, however, said government schools have traditionally collected nominal amounts towards term examinations whenever district-level education authorities initiate the process of printing question papers.
According to them, schools are generally asked to collect around Rs 40/student per term in elementary classes and Rs 50-Rs 80 in higher classes for printing question papers and answer sheets. The amount is remitted only to designated authorities, who arrange for printing question papers centrally and later supplying to schools during examinations and not an examination fee.
A former government school headmistress said there is no government-prescribed examination fee. However, she pointed out that many government schools with over 1,000 students receive only around Rs 1 lakh annually towards maintenance, which is often inadequate to meet routine repairs and other operational expenses. “The issue is systemic rather than intentional,” she said.
Director of School Education S Kannappan said the matter would be discussed at the departmental level. “We will examine all possible options to address the issue without burdening students and come up with a better solution,” he said.