Hyderabad: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued notice to the management of the Narayana Concept High School at Narayanguda over certain financial irregularities in the accounts that it has furnished. The commission stated that collection of high capitation fee from parents was a violation of Section 13 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The notice was issued after anti-corruption activist Vijay Gopal filed a petition against the school for allegedly collecting high captitation fee from the parents of students intending to join the institution. Following this, the Commission ordered a detailed investigation into the accounts of the school and sought an action-taken report. The deputy educational officer (DEO), Himayatnagar zone, Hyderabad, upon inquiry found that the management had been collecting '26,000 per nursery admission in 2016-17 and '28,000 in 2017-18. This included tuition fee and school development funds like computers etc.
The report filed by the deputy educational officer indicated that the school was not meeting the milestones set out in the rules. The report stated that as per Rule No. 18/4A of Government Order MS No. 1, the management can get five per cent of the fee collected as personal income. The school got 3.07 per cent as personal income. Instead of the 15 per cent of the fee collected, the management spent 36.68 per cent towards maintanence in violation of Rule 18/4B.
The report stated that instead of spending 15 per cent on development activities, the management had spent 15.94 per cent. Instead of paying out 50 per cent of the fee collected as salaries of the staff, the management had spent only 42.39 per cent. Mr Vijay Gopal said, “I am glad that the national commission took note of the case filed by us. We hope that the parents will get justice.” He said the national commission for child rights had issued notice to the management because it was collecting building fee and mandating that the books be bought from the school itself. The school also collects admission fees or donations at one time which is strictly prohibited, Mr Gopal said.
