Children should be spared from school fee issues: panel

Child Rights Commission asks DGE and the CBSE Regional Officer to issue circulars to all schools

July 09, 2020 06:11 pm | Updated 06:11 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed that in case a student’s fee is pending, the school should inform the parents with proof rather than ask the child in front of the class to remit it, thereby causing him/her mental distress.

They should not discriminate against a child in the name of the fee either.

The commission, in the order issued recently, asked the Director of General Education (DGE) and the CBSE Regional Officer here to issue circulars to all schools in the State to follow its directions in this regard strictly.

The commission comprising member K. Nazeer was acting on a complaint from a boy’s parent that he was not able to pay the school fee on time. Despite never having failed to remit the fee, the child was threatened and mentally harassed.

One day, he was made to get off the transport to school. The boy who was upset was unable to appear for the examinations, the complaint said, seeking the commission’s intervention in the matter.

The Principal of the school, in his report, said the school needed to collect the fee stipulated by law to function. While the child’s fee was due, the school did not compel him or misbehave with him. Nor was the boy forced the alight from the bus. The Principal contended that the child boarded the bus from different stops as per the convenience of his mother, and the bus left because they did not reach the stop on time. Also, the child did not appear for the examinations owing to familial reasons.

However, the complainant submitted a statement denying the Principal’s explanation.

The commission then asked the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) to investigate the Principal’s actions against the child and inform the police of any lapses found.

The commission also sought a report on the action taken from the DGE, CBSE Regional Officer, and the DCPO within 40 days.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.