Schools warned not to collect excessive fees

Abhiram Sankar, Deputy Commissioner and chairman, District Education Regulating Authority (DERA), has instructed schools not to collect money from parents over and above the stipulated fee structure.

He also instructed parents not to insist on students who get admitted under RTE to buy uniforms from their institutions. The schools could guide parents about availability of uniforms in the open market, he said.

Mr. Abhiram, after a DERA meeting on Wednesday, told

The Hindu that he had received complaints about some schools collecting excessive fees from parents. He asked Block Education Officers (BEOs) to ensure only stipulated fees were collected. He also asked them to warn schools of stringent action if they charged higher fees under the garb of library fee, school development fee,, etc..

S. Mamatha, Deputy Director of Public Instruction, said that all schools have been asked to display the fee structure in front of the institutions. Parents could complain to the DDPI office or BEO if any institution was collecting excess fees. She added that all the schools had been asked to admit children under RTE. Refusal to do so would be viewed seriously.