A complaint has been submitted to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) alleging large-scale irregularities in the collection of “question paper fees” from students studying in government high and higher secondary schools in Tamil Nadu.
According to the petition sent by Malaikozhundhan, state president of the Tamil Nadu High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers’ Association, students from Classes 6 to Plus Two are being charged a fee in the name of question papers. He cited an RTI response dated September 8 in which the School Education Directorate reportedly said no government order has been issued to authorise such collection.
The complaint also points to wide variations in the fee collected across districts in the 2025–26 academic year. For instance, for Classes 6 and 7, the fee is stated as Rs 80 in Karur, Rs 75 in Namakkal and Rs 84 in Tiruvallur; for Class 10, it is Rs 100 in Karur, Rs 122 in Namakkal and Rs 105 in Tiruvallur; and for Plus Two, it is Rs 120 in Karur, Rs 122 in Namakkal and Rs 119 in Tiruvallur.
Based on information obtained for 2025–26, the petition claims collections of Rs 1.27 crore in Namakkal, Rs 1.37 crore in Kanniyakumari and Rs 1.4 crore in Pudukkottai. Extrapolating an average of about Rs 1.25 crore per district, it alleges that more than Rs 50 crore is collected annually across 38 districts without a government order.
The complaint further alleges that the money is deposited and handled through private bank accounts, that printing work is awarded without calling for public tenders, and that funds collected for examinations have been diverted for other expenses, including vehicle repair costs of the district chief educational officer. The petitioner has sought a detailed inquiry into alleged illegal collection and financial misappropriation.
