Is it illegal to charge five yuan for lunch in rural schools?

Arbitrary charges refer to the behavior of some institutions, departments and personnel to collect money in the name of not complying with formal laws and regulations. Generally speaking, this word refers to the ultra vires behavior of local government departments.

Education field

As far as primary and secondary schools are concerned, arbitrary charges are mainly manifested in three aspects:

First, some grass-roots education administrative departments and primary and secondary schools are influenced by "interest-driven". They recruit students who choose a school, run "school lieutenant colonel", make up lessons, and distribute review counseling materials at random. All kinds of sponsorship fees are linked to students' enrollment, some to make up for the lack of public funds in schools, and some for collective benefits.

Second, some social departments apportion, fine and charge for hitchhiking to schools, such as forcibly subscribing to newspapers and magazines and selling insurance, school uniforms, food and school tools.

Third, some grass-roots governments, in violation of regulations, set up projects without authorization, charging fees beyond the standard and expanding the scope of fees. For example, through the student ID card of primary and secondary schools, additional education fees or fund-raising are collected, and school building fees, decoration fees, education donations, substitute teachers' salaries, workers' fees, fund-raising for road (bridge) construction, fines for family planning, social security fees, social support fees, etc. According to the statistics of education departments in some provinces and cities, primary and secondary schools' own fees, fees charged by grass-roots governments and departments, and hitchhiking fees each account for about half of the fees. In recent years, the phenomenon of arbitrary charges by some grass-roots governments has declined, but the phenomenon of arbitrary charges and hitchhiking charges by some local departments is still outstanding.