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Strict ban on school donations
By Santhush Fernando
The government has decided to strictly enforce a ban on accepting donations for admission of Year One students in any state school, an official said yesterday. The Education Ministry's School Activities Director Nandasena Mundigala said a circular had been sent to all principals, directing that the ban should be strictly imposed.

He said that only facilities fees and school development charges could be levied in the future. Mr. Nandasena said the regulation banning donations had been announced earlier, but it had not been implemented and the Ministry was now getting tough on it.

The ministry decision comes in the wake of a large number of complaints from parents about donations and in some cases the children not being admitted after giving the donations.

Another ministry official said complaints by parents would now be probed and action taken against principals if there was substantial evidence. However, the circular does not prevent the schools from accepting donations after the admission, but the ministry official said that parents could not be forced to do so.

According to new Education Ministry regulations, principals of government schools have to conduct interviews on new admissions before August 25 and announce the tentative list by September 15.

Any parent can raise objections and make a complaint from September 15 to 30. A board headed by the principal will look into the complaints from October 15 to 30 and finalise the list by November 15. Any parent who feels that a serious act of injustice has taken place can complain directly to the Ministry Secretary.

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