Heads of 26 schools summoned for charging extra exam fees

The High Court today summoned the heads of 26 schools in Dhaka to appear before it for charging additional examination fees from Secondary School Certificate (SSC) candidates.

The headmasters or principals and chairmen or managing directors of each of the 26 institutions and their governing bodies have to appear before the HC by 10:30am on January 6 to explain why they have charged the extra fees beyond the amount fixed by the government.

The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the orders while hearing a suo moto rule.

The bench summoned the heads of the institutions and their governing bodies after going through a probe report submitted by Dhaka education board.

According to the report, 26 institutions in the capital have charged extra examination fees from their SSC candidates for 2015 academic year.

Deputy Attorney General Biswojit Roy and Mahfujur Rahman Roman, the lawyer for a high school in Kishorganj, which is a party in this case, told The Daily Star.

The institutions are--Motijheel Ideal School and College, Milestone College, Viqarunnisa Noon School, Mirpur Bangla School and College, Dhaka Residential Model College, National Ideal School and College, Rajuk Uttara Model College, Cambrian School and College, Udayan High School, Raihan College, Lalbagh, Alimuddin High School, Mirpur, Mohammadpur High School, Government Laboratory High School, New Market, Armanitola Government High School, West and High School, Anandamoyee Girls High School, Holy Cross Girls High School, Siddheswari Girls High School, Ahmed Bawani Academy, YWCA School, Monipur High School, Mirpur Adorsha High School, Mirpur Shaheed Smriti High School, Jannat Academy Mirpur, and Haji Billat Ali Adorsha High School, Azampur.

Earlier on November, the same bench ordered the government to immediately stop charging additional examination fees from SSC candidates at the schools across the country.

The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why charging extra examination fees from SSC candidates should not be declared illegal.

It issued the rule following report published on the daily Jugantor the same day saying that the exam fee for an SSC student has been fixed at Tk 1,400 by the government, but the candidates have to pay eight times more for filling up a form for appearing in the examination.

The court also ordered the education board to submit a probe report in this regard before it.