Principals strictly prohibited from accepting donation for admission

by Dasun Edirisinghe

The government has strictly prohibited school principals from accepting financial donations or contributions in any other form, for the admission of Grade One students, other than what had been authorized, according to a circular issued yesterday regarding 2013 admissions.

According to the circular, apart from the facilities levy and service charges and the membership fee for School Development Societies, no other financial donations or any goods and equipment for the school or organizations affiliated to the school could be made. These offers should not be made even after the admission of children to schools," the circular said.

Organizing Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Service Union Dammika Alahapperuma told The Island the government was making a foolish attempt to deceive people. While prohibiting schools from taking donations, the government also paved the way for those in authority to collect funds.

According to the 2008/35 circular, the education ministry had allowed schools to raise money for the development of the schools through pilot projects of the Schools Development Society Programme. The funds could be collected from parents, well wishers, government funds, levies and rents charged from renting the school buildings and profits from the goods and products produced under the curricular activities including agricultural products and vocational training programmes, he said. The same circular instructs the schools heads to obtain the services of private audit firms to audit those funds.

"It is a known fact that the parents are charged by school principals when they try to admit children to schools. While permitting school heads to charge parents in one circular, issuing another circular, prohibiting that, is nothing but a joke," Alahapperuma added.