Parents educating their wards in private schools in and around the city are seemingly suffering in silence as the institutions have not complied with the fee specified by the Tamil Nadu Private School Fee Determination Committee.
There have been instances of parents shelling out amounts up to ₹1 lakh per year at the higher secondary level in some schools. They are required to spend much more if the institutions have tie-up with training institutes, which also charge almost as much as the schools do.
The government-appointed committee under Justice S.R. Singaravelu that determines fee structure for private schools redresses the grievances of parents complaining of excess fee collection. But the question is whether parents will be bold enough to complain.
Ever since the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fees) Act was passed, private schools have been furnishing details of fee collection. It was after an elaborate exercise that the committee fixed the fee for over 10,000 schools.
The committee fixed the fee for every institution taking into consideration details pertaining to total area of land, building area, area provided for other purposes, mode of ownership (trust, society, management or individual), rental or leased land, duration of lease, laboratory facilities, library facilities, computer facility, provision for air condition and other particulars.
The schools are required to submit details of tuition fee and special fee collected per student, alongside the collection made under other heads: building, equipment, school anniversary, sports day, founders day, teachers day, school jubilee, annual magazine, and refundable deposit.
The committee also factored in scholarships or concessions granted by the institutions, the number of buses and vans they own, the km-wise amount collected, the amount collected for books, notebooks and uniforms, salaries paid for teaching and non-teaching staff, annual expenditure for power, water, telephone, internet, postal charges, repair and maintenance, and depreciation of building, besides reimbursement made under Right to Education Act.
The committee also accepted requests by schools that the expenditure incurred towards allowances, teaching aids, incentives for good result, examination expenses, printing, gift given on occasions and festivals, retirement purse, and staff uniform be factored in.
The schools also stated that they spend on gardening, insurance, welfare, sanitation,education tour, seminar, group activities (NCC, NSS, Scouts, medical expenses) and teaching through technology.
As far as the School Education department is concerned, the amount collected by schools through tie-up with coaching centres does not come under official purview. “Spending on extra coaching is the prerogative of the parents,” Chief Educational Officer of Tiruchi M. Ramakrishnan said.
The department will soon issue instructions to schools to display the fee collected under various heads on the notice board, he said.
