CDPEA's Appeal To Govt
Coimbatore District Physical Education Association has urged the Chief Minister to issue orders for ensuring funds for extra curricular activities in schools, especially sports education.According to a release from M.A.Vellingiri, Secretary of the Association, the Government had recently ordered that no special fees would be collected from schools run by the State, Municipality, or the Corporation.Mr.Vellingiri in a memorandum has urged the Chief Minister to sanction additional funds for extra curricular activities. Before the order, the schools were collecting Rs.32.50 as special fee from students in classes VI to VIII, Rs.47.50 from students in classes IX and X and Rs.103 from students of science group in classes XI and XII and Rs.73 from students in Arts and Commerce groups.
This helped the school authorities in meeting the daily expenses for running the schools, which included expenses incurred on sports. The special fee was fixed years ago and it had not been revised to meet the rising expenses. Of the special fee collected from the students, Rs.10 per student in classes VI to VIII, Rs. 20 per student in classes IX and X and Rs.30 per student in classes XI and XII, used to be set aside for sports expenses.
The funds, though not adequate, had come in handy for buying sports utilities, conducting sports events, tournaments and competitions. However, after issuing the order , the Government had not explained how it would help the schools meet the expenses for extra-curricular activities, especially sports. No alternative allocation had been made.
