Schools face fine for interviewing kids, parents

Any school that interviews students and parents for admissions will have to cough up a penalty of anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000, and a school asking for donations will have to pay 10 times the amount it has demanded.

Any school that interviews students and parents for admissions will have to cough up a penalty of anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000, and a school asking for donations will have to pay 10 times the amount it has demanded.

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The state will soon frame rules to enforce these provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) legislation, which came into force on April 1, 2010. The Act, applicable to students from Class one to eight, covers all aided, unaided, government and private schools.

So, starting this academic year, any parent who encounters a school that asks his child to recite poems or identify fruits, or one that makes inquiries about family income, can approach any state education authority and lodge a written complaint.

The stipulation on donations means the penalty for schools would be much higher than the Rs 5,000 levied by the state under its Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act, 1987.

The RTE Act makes it clear that the stipulation applies to donation in any form.

State Education Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the government is in the process of modifying existing rules to bring in the RTE provisions.

"Taking advantage of parents and students seeking admissions in any way, and especially by way of taking donations, is not acceptable. We are in the process of setting up methods through which this can be curbed," Thorat told Hindustan Times.