A group of parents of students studying in C.S.I. Ewart Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Purasawalkam, on Monday voiced objections to the second-term fee collected by the school.
According to a parent, the fee amount is over Rs.6,000 for the second term. When contacted, Sheela Lawrence, headmistress of the school, said the school was only collecting the amount mentioned in the school diary.
A few months ago, the Private Schools Fee Determination Committee, chaired by Justice K. Govindarajan, stipulated the fees to be collected by every school in the city.
Institutions which felt that the permissible fee was too low appealed to the committee to revise it. The committee said that the revision would be taken up next year and until then asked the school managements to collect the amount specified by it.
“Our school has independently gone to court, and the association of matriculation schools has also appealed. We are waiting for the verdict. We will not force any parent to pay high amounts,” Ms. Lawrence said.
Similarly, some parents of students studying in Alpha Matriculation Higher Secondary School protested on Monday morning. A press release from the parents said that the school managements were not adhering to the fees stipulated by the government-appointed committee and the government, too, “made parents run around”.
A note from the school head said the school would not insist upon the last date for payment of second-term fees. Parents may pay the fees after a final decision is taken on the matter by the Madras High Court, on the writ petition filed by the Federation [of Matriculation schools], it said.
Last week, the Directorate of Matriculation Schools has asked the managements of Sethu Bhaskara Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Ambattur, CSI Jessie Moses Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Anna Nagar, and CSI Bain Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Kilpauk, to stick to the fees they collected in the first term, following protests by a section of parents that charged the management with collecting high amounts as fees.
