The education ministry yesterday warned educational institutions that are taking additional money from the examinees of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations for 2017 when they fill up forms. In a press release, the ministry said it has noticed that some educational institutions were charging additional fees from the students in violation of the fixed fees of the education boards and the education ministry, which was against government rules. The educational institutions, the ministry warned, would have to immediately return the extra money taken from the students or legal action would be taken against the institutions’ chiefs. Such legal steps may include cancellation of the managing committees. The authorities of the education boards have fixed the total fees at Tk. 1,725 in the Commerce group and Tk. 1,825 in the Science group. However, it is alleged that many schools were charging Tk. 25,50 in Commerce and Tk. 3,200 in Science. Earlier, in February this year, the education ministry served show-cause notices on some 1,209 educational institutions for not refunding the additional fees taken from the SSC examinees following a court order. On November 6 last year, the High Court (HC) asked all education boards to take action against educational institutions that charge extra fees from the SSC candidates beyond those fixed by the boards. In its order, the court asked the headmasters and heads of the governing bodies to return the extra examination fees they had charged beyond the amount set by the government by January 20, 2016. Following such directives by the government, many educational institutions returned the money to the SSC examinees. The education ministry yesterday warned the educational institutions to desist from taking additional fees from the examinees.