Bhopal: As Madhya Pradesh government plans a law to prevent schools from charging arbitrary fees, private schools are devising innovative ways to get around these rules. Take this school in Rajgarh district for example: The students here have been asked to pay Rs 900 for an annual function to get an extra ten marks in each subject.
The bizarre offer has been floated by the management at the Rajeshwari Convent School in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. Students from classes KG to VIII have been asked to pay Rs 900 if they take part in the annual function. They can earn extra marks in the examination with this additional fee.
The offer was valid till November 27 and the school said that this money was being charged for the costumes of the participating children.
The Madhya Pradesh cabinet approved a School Fee Regulation Bill last Sunday, proposing fee regulation norms for private schools.
The Bill prevents schools from increasing fee annually by over 10%. The government is also planning to include residential schools into the fee regulation ambit. However, the bill is required to be tabled in the assembly before coming to force.
According to sources, the Rajeshwari Convent School order has irked a large number of parents, but fearing a backlash from the school administration, none has approached authorities against them.
District Education Officer SK Mishra, while talking to News18, termed the ‘offer’ as wrong and indirect corruption, for offering marks in return for money.
Mishra has also made it clear that no such sanction was sought from the school in this regard. He claimed that he would bring the matter to the notice of the district collector and take appropriate action against the school.
As states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Delhi have already enforced the ‘Fees Regulation Act’, the Madhya Pradesh government has been mulling over it since 2008, when the first draft of the Bill was prepared.
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