On Friday (19th July) the Madras High Court ruled that a child’s Transfer Certificate is a personal document provided in their name, not a tool for collecting pending fees. The court stated that no entries relating to fee arrears should be included in the Transfer Certificate (TC).
The Court’s decision followed an appeal by the Tamil Nadu government disputing an earlier ruling that downplayed the negative consequences of marking fee arrears on TCs. While observing that TC is not an obligatory document, the Court directed the government to revise the Tamil Nadu Education Rules and the Code of Regulations for Matriculation Schools in Tamil Nadu to reflect this. The court also ordered the government to issue a state-wide circular advising schools not to require Transfer Certificates from former institutions for admitting new students.
A Division Bench comprising Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice C Kumarappan said, “TC is not a tool for the schools to collect arrear fees from the parents or to weigh the financial capacity of the parents. TC is a personal document issued in the name of the child. Schools cannot put their own problems on the child by making unnecessary entries on the TC. Payment of tuition fees is the duty of the parents towards the schools. Any default in the same ought to be recovered from the parents by the school concerned in the manner known to law. Instead making entries of non-payment of fees on Transfer Certificate in the name of the child is sheer humiliation for the child. What will the child do if the parents failed to pay the fees? It is not their fault and to stigmatise and harass the child is a form of mental harassment under Section17 of the RTE Act.”
The Court further stressed that schools should not include needless information about unpaid or delayed school fees on Transfer Certificates. They also recommended the Tamil Nadu government revise the state’s Education Rules and Code of Regulation for Matriculation Schools to guarantee compliance with the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The schools have every right to initiate appropriate action for recovery of the outstanding fees, if any, from the parents in accordance with law. But in the process, harassing or punishing the child over default in payment of fees is an offence and falls within the contours of Section 75 of the JJ Act.”, the court said.
