The Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation, Higher Secondary and CBSE Schools association has submitted a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing for financial exemptions.
“As a result of the preventive measures taken against the spread of COVID-19, we have closed our schools without conducting the final exams for our students from classes 1 to 9 and have not been able to collect the full fees from many students,” said K.R. Nandhakumar, State General Secretary of the association. Schools haven’t been able to complete the admission process as well, according to the members of the association.
In their representation, they have asked to be exempted from the levy of property tax for private educational institutions which is collected in Tamil Nadu. “Every year, we have been struggling to pay a large amount as property tax and we cannot charge more than the fees set by the government from our students as well,” Mr. Nandhakumar said.
Schools were working for less then a week in March before they had to shut down and Mr Nandhakumar said that they should be exempted from paying for the insurance, fitness certificates and road tax for their school vehicles, which will remain non-operational for the next three months.
The private schools have also asked for the release of funds under the Right To Education (RTE) Act for the last two academic years. In their representation, the association members have said that they are providing free education to nearly 7 lakh students under the RTE Act but have not yet been compensated for the same with the State Government’s share.
