The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has said that if any student defaults on fee payment, the educational institution concerned may take steps to recover it legally, but preventing students from appearing for examinations at the end of the academic year, blocking the examination results, or not promoting them during primary school is a violation of the Right to Education Act and should not be allowed.
Acting on a petition from the father of a student in Ernakulam district, the commission, comprising member K. Nazeer earlier this week, directed the General Education Department Secretary, Director of General Education, and the CBSE Regional Officer here to issue orders asking schools not to repeat such practices.
The petitioner had contended that as he had no work during the pandemic last year, fee in the first term could not be paid by him. As a result, his child’s education had become disrupted from November 2020, and he was not allowed inside the school study group. Year-end examinations were not conducted for his son either. When the family tried shifting him to a government school this academic year, his Aadhaar number was not removed from the previous school and his transfer certificate (TC) had been withheld. His son, a best student for the past three years, had been adversely affected by the situation, the petitioner said.
The commission refrained from passing a special order in the case since the petitioner’s child received the TC after the petition had been accepted in file by the panel. However, it observed that the government had earlier issued orders on the panel recommendation that changing schools was a student’s right and TC should not be withheld for the reason that fee was pending.
Private educational institutions, as per the Kerala Education Rules and judgments passed by various courts during the pandemic, could collect fee through legal measures.However, not allowing students to appear for annual year-end examinations or promoting them was a violation of child rights, the panel said.
The commission also sought a report from the respondents on the action taken within 60 days.
