At a time when the State government has announced a slew of welfare measures to bring children to school and take the financial burden of education off their shoulders, students of the Government Higher Secondary School, in Moovarasampet, allege that their school charges them a sum at the beginning of every year, the break up of which they are not entirely sure of.
“I have been studying in this school from class VI, and every year different amounts are collected from us. Written receipts are given only sometimes. A few years ago, we got a receipt with the name of the school, but otherwise it is just a slip of paper,” says Rani, a class XII student.
Rajesh, a student of class VII, says that he has been asked to pay Rs. 500 this year. Though government schools charge a nominal sum for membership in the parent-teacher association and towards question papers given for exams, it would not amount to Rs. 360 and Rs. 520, which is the sum charged by the school say heads of other government schools. Students claim that varying sums are charged for different classes.
Sheela, whose daughter studies in class X, says that her daughter has been studying in the school since class VI, and claims they are asked to pay a specific amount each year and are not told on what basis this sum is fixed.
Even the textbooks given by the government are not entirely free in the school, says Ganga, a parent whose three children study in the school. She says that her children were asked to pay an amount varying between Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 for all the textbooks this year.
Her son, who studies in class VII, says they are usually given five days to pay the money, which is collected in cash, without a receipt being given. “If we are not able to pay the entire amount in one go, we are allowed to pay it in instalments,” says Chitra, a student of class X.
The Headmaster, Ravikumar, however denies having charged any such sum, and says that at times when students haven’t been able to pay the amount for membership, for instance, he has spent out of his own pocket.
He claims they have never “forced” anybody to pay any sum. The school, he says, has 1,200 students, from classes VI to XII.
The government’s free notebook scheme, which was rolled out last in the first week of July, promised notebooks for students from classes I to X, distributed in a phased manner. However, Selvi, a class X student, brought out a slip of paper with the number of notebooks required for the academic year mentioned on it.
“They asked us to buy these notebooks from a shop outside, and we have already started using them,” she says.
(Names of parents and students have been changed)
