Thiruvananthapuram: CBSE and ICSE schools in the state are collecting capitation fee in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh under the guise of building fee, infrastructure fee or some other fees. This is being collected as per the whims and fancies of the management without following any rationale. The amount is either collected as refundable interest free deposit or as admission fee. Parents complain about the demand for ‘money without receipt’ or in some cases with receipts.
Apart from the money collected at the time of KG admissions, many schools collect money when students are promoted from KG to Class I. In addition to this, a lot of capitation fees are in the form of donations. They are also generated during admissions to Plus Two courses. The donations for Plus Two courses range between Rs 30,000 for art subjects to Rs 3 lakh for science subjects.
Even though capitation fee is illegal, the problem is that students do not complain. Even the Vigilance Bureau is empowered to register a case as capitation fee can be considered as corruption, but not a single complaint has reached them, sources said. Apart from donation, there are other fees for transport, uniforms, stationery, building fund, educational trips, tuitions and extracurricular activities. Some schools even collect large amount of money as application fees.
Sudheer G. Kallara, president Kerala Parents Teachers Association told this newspaper that the CBSE rules were specific that the fee should be fixed in consultation with parents' bodies. However, in most cases the consultation was only with members of the school appointed parents committees who supported the managements. Parents also do not complaint due to fear of their children being victimised, Mr Kallara said.
