Govt-aided schools in Tamil Nadu collecting excess fees from the students
MADURAI: Parents and the members of a teachers association alleged that the government-aided schools across the state have been collecting a yearly fee between Rs 2,000 and Rs 15,000 as opposed to the government norms.
In Madurai, there are 51 functional fully-aided government schools, 37 partly-aided and 12 unaided schools. As per the government order, government-aided schools can collect only Rs 50 towards PTA (Parents Teachers Association) and Rs 60-80 for question papers, and no money should be collected from students. Besides, the government has also been providing several benefits for students of aided schools, including books, laptops, and uniforms, on par with the benefits doled out for government school students.
Sources said many government-aided schools have been forcing parents to pay more fees, ranging between Rs 2,000 to Rs 15,000 every year, adding that the authorities concerned fail to provide receipts for the same. They further pinpointed that students attending higher secondary schools are forced to pay more if they are enrolled in self-finance courses.
On request of anonymity, a member from the teachers association said that apart from collecting excess fees from parents, most government-aided schools also allegedly collect bribes of Rs 30-Rs 50 lakh from teachers when they're appointed at these schools. "Some schools even deduct 10% of the teachers' salaries every month. Though a teacher becomes eligible for the position of school headmaster after serving a minimum of 10 years at a government-aided school, most aided schools do not go by the government norms while choosing the headmaster.
A Class 11 student alleged that he paid an annual fee of Rs 18,000, adding that he had also paid a donation of Rs 10,000 to the school authorities initially. In the receipt given by the school authorities, there were no specifications about the amount I paid, he added.
Speaking to TNIE, a parent of an English-medium Class 7 student at Balamandiram Higher Secondary School, Vishwanathapuram said she paid Rs 6,500 as the yearly fee for her son. She added that the school authorities collected around Rs 400-Rs 500 from Tamil Medium students of the same class.
A teacher from the Sethupathi Higher Secondary School said the school has been collecting a yearly fee of Rs 1,000 from students of Classes 6-8. "They have also been collecting Rs 500 from Tamil medium students of Classes 9-12. However, a parent claimed the school collected around Rs 12,000 for their son who is studying in Class 8," the teachers added.
Responding to the issue, Chief Educational Officer, K Karthika said that the officials are aware of government-aided school authorities collecting fees from English medium students, but not from Tamil medium students. She assured them of taking action if they receive an individual complaint from any of the schools.
Data from the District educational office
Fully government-aided schools -51
Partly government-aided schools - 37
Unaided self-finance schools - 12