Only wards of daily wagers exempted from paying Adarsha Vidyalaya fee

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Even as the principals of Adarsha Vidyalayas in the State are struggling to collect 'school development fee (SDF)' of Rs 300 per month each from the students of their respective schools as per the recent directive of the Adarsha Vidyalaya Sanghathan, Assam (AVSA), the AVSA has now defined who will constitute the 20 per cent of economically deprived families which are exempted from paying the fee.

According to a member of the school management and development committee (SMDC) of one Adarsha Vidyalaya, the AVSA has directed them to ensure collection of the SDF within the first week of each month starting from January, failing which they will be fined.

The source said that the AVSA has defined economically deprived families as ones where the head of family is a daily wage earner who goes out in search of work and waits for "indefinite time" on the roadside in search of prospective employers. The AVSA has stipulated that the SDF can be waived only in case of the wards of such persons and the final decision in this regard will be taken by the SMDC concerned after scrutinizing the relevant applications.

It may be mentioned that the AVSA decided to impose a nominal fee of Rs 300 per month in the form of SDF for the students of all functional Adharsha Vidyalayas located in different educationally backward blocks of Assam from the current academic session. The AVSA, however, exempted students belonging to economically deprived families from paying such fees.

The AVSA has decided following the decision taken at the review meeting of the State Education Department held on July 17, 2022, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The AVSA had stated in its earlier order dated November 9, 2022, that it will keep 20 per cent of the total seats in every class reserved for students coming from economically backward families with the facilities of fee exemption.

According to the order, the existing students of Adharsha Vidyalayas will have to take fresh admission when upgraded or promoted to higher classes.

The schools will have to deposit the collected fees to the AVSA account. The AVSA will allow 50 per cent of the amount so collected for spending for a few purposes — engaging three (maximum) voluntary educators daily for 20 days a month. The educators are for teaching sports, physical education, music, and art and craft. An educator will get Rs 500 per day as an honorarium. The school authorities can also use the amount for light refreshments for various meetings, training, and celebration of days of national and international importance, besides regular cleaning of toilets.

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