Private schools in State likely to increase fee by 10 per cent

R SATHYANARAYANA

Private schools in the State are likely to get the nod to increase the fees by 10 per cent as Tamil Nadu Private Schools Fees Determination Committee finalises the payment structure before December.

A senior official from the School Education Department said the hike will be applicable for both nursery and matriculation schools.

Pointing out that more than 12,000 private schools are functioning from elementary to higher secondary levels across the State, he said, “the committee has determined fee for a total of 8,138 schools up to February 2020”.

The State enacted the regulation of the Collection of Fees Act, 2009, to prevent commercialisation of education. Accordingly, the panel headed by Justice R Balasubramaian as the chairman had asked all the self-financing institutions to submit their proposal before September 30.

Stating that private school fees is likely to be increased by about 10 per cent only for the institutions that duly and officially apply for it, another official said every school’s proposal would be thoroughly scrutinised before giving permission.

The official added all information, including infrastructure and other facilities, mentioned in the proposal will be physically checked by the respective district education authorities, who would submit the report before the committee.

“Once the fees get fixed, the schools should not collect more than the prescribed amount. There is a separate monitoring team that would take action if the schools are in violation,” he said.

KR Nandhakumar, general secretary of TN Private Nursery, Primary, Matriculation, Higher Secondary, and CBSE Schools Association said the fees hike will be helpful for many schools, which was in bad shape. “The increment will also help the management pay salary dues,” he added.

All unaided schools are now collecting 85% of the fixed fee from the salaried sector and businessmen and 75% from parents who suffered loss of income