Preventing students from writing exams or not promoting due to pending fee a violation of rights: Kerala child rights panel

Acting on a petition from the father of a student in Ernakulam district, the commission 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 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.