Tamil Nadu’s school education department has directed government and aided school heads to stop collecting examination fees and question paper charges from students in Classes VI to XII, following an interim injunction by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court under the Right to Education Act.
Chief education officers have been instructed to enforce the directive in all schools within their jurisdictions and to act on complaints from students and parents. The department has also warned that strict action will be taken against school heads who continue to collect the charges.
Government and aided schools usually collect between ₹100 and ₹150 from each student towards examination-related expenses. The money is generally transferred to a district coordinator, often a headmaster, and then sent to the printing press responsible for producing question papers. Schools maintain records of the amounts collected.
The school education department said students and their parents could approach the office of the relevant chief education officer to lodge a formal complaint if the fee is collected despite the order. They can also use helpline 108 to flag the issue, an official from the department said.
The directive follows the Madurai bench’s interim injunction restraining the collection of examination and question paper fees from students in Classes VI to XII. The report did not provide details of the case number or the date of the court’s interim order, but said the practice had been held to violate provisions of the Right to Education Act.
The order places responsibility on the education administration to ensure that the court-linked restriction is implemented consistently across schools. The involvement of chief education officers also creates a formal channel for complaints, rather than leaving parents to resolve fee disputes directly with individual school managements.
Student welfare activists welcomed the move but said the government should consider covering other examination-related expenses faced by higher secondary students. S Arumainathan, president of the Tamil Nadu Students Parents Welfare Association, said students still pay for scanned copies of answer sheets, while revaluation charges can be higher for subjects such as Biology.
The directive therefore addresses one category of school-level collection but does not, according to the report, announce any decision on the costs of obtaining scanned answer sheets or applying for revaluation. The education department’s immediate next step is to receive complaints through chief education officers and take action against schools found collecting the prohibited fees.
