Malda, May 7: Absence from school now comes at a price.

For the whole of last year students of Krishnamohan Balika Vidyalaya in the Banshbari area of the town have been paying fines for missing classes.

“For absence up to five days, the students are forced to pay Rs 100. A leave of more than five days fetches a penalty of Rs 200,” said an angry guardian, who has repeatedly asked the school authorities to amend their rule.

Many students have already been forced to pay fines against school receipts, often more than once, he added.

“I come on foot from Mangalbari in Old Malda about 2 km from here. In October, I was sick and could not come to school for three days. I had to pay a fine of Rs 100. The same thing happened again in March this year,” said Rinku Sarkar, a student of Class X. Another student, Fatema Khatoon, also had to pay the fine, though she produced a medical certificate.

The incident came to the fore after the guardians, tired of appealing to the authorities, asked the district Chhatra Parishad unit to intervene.

Accordingly, Chhatra Parishad activists led by their district president Madhumoy Sarkar, demonstrated outside the school today and submitted a memorandum to principal Shukla Chakraborty, demanding an immediate scrapping of the fine.

In her defence, Chakraborty said the fine was meant to ensure the 75 per cent attendance that West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has made mandatory.

“We have started imposing fines to ensure attendance of the students. It is not true that we do not consider medical certificates. We just get the certificates verified,” Chakraborty said.

The Malda district inspector of schools (secondary), Chinmay Sarkar, however, denied that the board allowed any school to realise fines in this manner.

“The board rules do not permit any school to slap fines on students for being absent from school. I shall inquire into the incident and take necessary action against the school authorities if someone comes with a specific complaint,” Sarkar said.