It is a balanced judgment coming on a piecemeal basis, parents and school managements said about Tuesday's order passed by the First Bench of the Madras High Court. The First Bench, disposing of appeals against a single judge's order, said that 6,400 schools which submitted their objections to the fee fixation order passed by the Justice Govindarajan Committee should abide, this year too, by the fee fixed by them for the previous academic year 2009-10. The 6,400 schools shall be entitled to pursue their objections.
It has been a mixed reaction from parents. Some were happy with the judgment, while others said the fee issue had become more confusing. “We are happy with the verdict, especially with the fact that schools, if they have collected extra fee for the second term, would retain it as deposit,” said Solomon, whose child studies at CSI Jessie Moses Matriculation School. Many other parents who are still to understand the High Court order say what is needed is greater transparency on the part of the schools.
“Last year, I paid Rs.17,500 for the entire year. Today, I get a notice from the school that they have hiked by another Rs.1,000 with no justification,” said D.C. Kesavan, parent of a UKG student.
P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System, described it as a balanced order. He said that from the parents' point of view it was clear that schools cannot squeeze money and from the schools' point the committee would have a personal hearing for every school.
“I don't know if the confusion has been cleared. But, we welcome the fact that a time-frame has been given for the Govindarajan Committee to dispose of the appeal. We are only seeking a fair and a long-term solution for all parties,” said P. Vishnucharan, correspondent of Shree Niketan Matriculation School.
