With the academic year coming to an end, several parents are running from pillar to post to get a transfer certificate (TC) for their children. Parents allege that school managements are asking them to pay money for the TC.

Fr. Antony Sebastian, chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said they received several complaints in this regard. “Parents have filed complaints before the commission and we are directing officers of the Department of Public Instruction to issue notices to schools and ensure that the students get the transfer certificate,” he said. Sources in the commission said many parents had applied for transfer certificate because either they wanted to change the child’s school as they were not satisfied with the quality of education or they were relocating to other areas in the city. “One school has demanded as high as ₹20,000 to issue a transfer certificate even though all the parents have paid all the dues,” a source in the commission said.

While some school managements are claiming that the dues by the parents have to be cleared, other managements admit that they are asking parents to pay money as it is too late for them to admit other students in the same class.

Suraj S., a parent who is awaiting for his daughter’s transfer certificate said although the Department of Public Instruction has made the process of issuing transfer certificates easier, it still had not benefited the parents. “The department in 2016 had stated that the transfer certificate no longer needs to have a countersignature by the jurisdictional Block Education Officer, but what does one do when the school itself doesn’t issue a certificate?” he asked. An official in the Department of Public Instruction, however, stated that such complaints will be immediately addressed and a show-cause notice will be issued to the school if the parents give a written complaint against the school management.