The rampant levying of ad hoc education fees has been a constant irritating ire among the public for years.

Many blame inadequate government input, a view that to some degree, is correct. However, they always fail to ask a crucial question, that is, even if ad hoc fees are levied due to the insufficient education budget, where does the cash end up?

If those fees were really spent on education causes, then to some extent, they are tolerable. If the money is going elsewhere, then the situation becomes intolerable. Unfortunately, the latter scenario is quite often the state of affairs in many places.

Take Xintian, an impoverished county in Central China's Hunan Province, as an example.

With a per capita income less than 1,000 yuan (US$120), the education budget is understandably meager in this poor county.

However, the local education bureau is nestled in a posh office building and its leaders are driving luxury cars.

Where did the money come from for such lavish extras?

It is reported that an annually charged fee of 20 yuan (US$2.20) has been levied on every pupil for six years and has been put into a pot going under the name of education development fund.

Given the number of students there is 70,000, that's a lot of cash.

The bureau also collected millions more from students for a sports facility fund.

But the sports centre was never built. Was the money returned to the students, most of whom from poor families who sacrifice much to send their children to school?

Of course not, claim the media. All that cash was morphed into those cars and the building of that lavish office.

For six years the bureau extorted money from the students without any intervention from the local government.

Is it worthy to ask who should be held accountable for this outrage?

It is a well-known secret that some local governments are using the levying of ad hoc education fees as a major source of their revenue. As a result, they are reluctant to check them.

It is high time to correct this scam otherwise if government spending on education increases, and if such corrupt acts remain unchecked, the practice of collecting ad hoc fees will continue.