Chennai, Sept 17 (BPNS)
Parents of Children studying in aided schools and self-financing colleges of Tamil Nadu have alleged that the institution managements were over charging in fee even during the pandemic.
R. Sathyamoorthy, parent of Bavya Lakshmi a tenth-standard student of a private aided school in Salem while speaking to BPNS said, “ School authorities are charging heavy fees and there seems to be no regulatory mechanism in place. The district educational officers feigned helplessness when we complain. But school is good and we want to continue her studies in that school but they are charging Rs 10,000 as first term fee and this is a government-aided school. I came to know that in some other places in Salem district itself, the fee is Rs 17,500. This is indeed extracting money from hapless parents.”
CBSE private schools are charging according to their whims and fancies and are making children sit outside the classrooms if they are not paying the fee on time.
Sreeranajini ,mother of a class XI student Niranjana.S.R of a CBSE school in Chennai while speaking to BPNS said, “ The authorities are not at all understanding our problems. School is asking us to pay Rs 45000 now. They said that it was a fee but the school fee according to our understanding was Rs 16000 per term but now the school is saying that the 29,000 Rs is an extra caution deposit for the laboratory. We are both private company employees and immediately we are not able to cough up this much money but school authorities won’t listen and made our daughter sit outside the class along with her classmates whose parents were not able to pay up.”
After the pandemic and when schools are reopened in Tamil Nadu this is common scenario and only places, names and schools change.
When contacted the office of the School education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that they have received some complaints and have specifically called up these schools for an explanation.
Tamil Nadu state CBSE school association secretary S. Thirumoorthy while speaking to BPNS said, “We are collecting fee after Supreme Court ordered CBSE schools to collect the fee. In some schools for the science stream, they may be taking caution deposit which is generally refundable. School managements are not fleecing money from the students and are just collecting the dues also in some cases.”
He however agreed that the school managements should not make the students sit outside the class for non-payment of fee and said that such complaints would be looked into and taken up before the association.
The Special Officer for Tamil Nadu Private Schools Fee Determination committee said that the parents can check on the school fees of their children on www.tnfeecommittee.com.
While aided colleges in Tamil Nadu are regulated under the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges Regulation Act, 1976, these colleges can collect fee prescribed by the government only.
The self-financing colleges in the meanwhile are again collecting huge fees and several parents have already lodged complaints with the office of the Tamil Nadu higher education minister as well as the Directorate of Collegiate Education, Tamil Nadu.
