Schools must not insist on Birth Certificate during admission

Awareness programme on fee structure for unaided schools held; School with 200 students can charge only Rs. 11,975 as tuition fee

Mysuru: An awareness programme was held in city yesterday for School Heads and Management Boards regarding fee structure to be followed by private and unaided schools, Right To Education Act guidelines and how to manage school vehicles and ensure the safety of students travelling in such vehicles.

The event was jointly organised at Kalamandira by District Legal Services Authority, Department of Public Instruction and District Education Regulatory Authority (DERA). Rules and regulations to be followed by schools while charging fees from students and related guidelines were discussed at the programme.

Speaking on fee structure and admissions, M.K. Swamy, Superintendent, Deputy Director’s Office, Department of Public Instruction, said that schools must follow a transparent system of admissions and every year, April must be set aside for admissions.

Instructions and procedures must be put on the respective school notice boards and once applications are called, parents must be given five days to submit the filled-in applications. An application form must not cost beyond Rs. 5 and if there is a school booklet accompanying the application forms, not more than Rs. 25 should be charged.

Objections to be recorded

Swamy said that parents must be given a chance to file objections to the admission process and the objections must be recorded. The school managements must reply to the objections. Teachers must be appointed based on the guidelines of the government and all the salaries must be disbursed through bank accounts only, he added.

Providing an example of school fee structure, he said that if a school has 200 students, the annual tuition fee (including all expenditure like salaries, concession for poor students and overall expenditure) of a student cannot exceed Rs. 11,975. “A school with 200 students has to spend a maximum of Rs. 23,95,000 and this if divided among 200 students, the amount stands at Rs. 11,975. The Government rules say that levying fee more than this amount is illegal and against rules,” he added.

Birth certificates

Lingaraje Urs of Chamarajanagar District Institute for Education and Training (DIET) said that schools must not insist on birth certificate at the time of admission and admissions must be made as per the child’s birth date given by the parents. “Those students who have been admitted to schools under RTE cannot be asked to leave the school and they must be retained till the students complete the education offered at that particular school,” he said.

Airing his opinion on the safety of students, RTO Prabhuswamy said that criminal action can be initiated against the schools that do not ensure the safety of students travelling in school buses by installing protective grills on the windows of the buses.

Safety measures

All schools that provide transport facility to students must sign agreements with private operators for buses if they do not have their own buses. Strict instructions must be passed on to the drivers not to cross 40 kms per hour. Seats in the bus must be occupied by children in accordance to the guidelines issued by the Transport Department. Extra students must not be made to squeeze in, he said. Autos transporting children must ensure that not more than six students are taken in an auto, he added.

While picking up and dropping children, one male staffer and a female staffer must mandatorily accompany the children in the bus and while hiring such vehicles, the school managements must ensure that vehicle documents are up-to-date including Fitness Certificate and Vehicle Insurance, Prabhuswamy said.