The court had ordered that the schools in Tamil Nadu shall collect only 40% annual fees as the first installment amid the pandemic.
The Madras High Court on Monday extended the deadline for the payment of the first installment of school fees in Tamil Nadu to September 30. The judges also warned the schools of contempt of court if they demanded over 40% of the fees in the first installment. According to reports, the matter relates to a mention by the state government about several complaints it has been receiving from aggrieved parents, who are being forced to pay the entire annual school fees.
The demand to pay entire fees in one go is a direct violation of a court order dated July 17, in which the Bench allowed the schools to collect only 40% of the annual fees in the first instalment by August 31. The court had ordered that the remaining 35% shall be collected within two months from the date of reopening of the schools in the state.
Taking note of the submission made by the government’s counsel, the bench directed the School Education Department to finish a probe into the complaints within two weeks and submit a report to the court by September 23.
Principal Secretary of School education Dheeraj Kumar told the court that separate email IDs have been created to receive complaints of violations and as many as 74 complaints have been received on Friday and Saturday. He added that earlier, the department had issued circulars to all district education offices in the state to conduct inquiry into the violations of the court order and that after that the department had received 34 complaints on schools. Show Cause notices have been sent to 29 schools and some of the complaints have been forwarded to the Regional Director of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
“This court is taking a very serious note of the violation that has been brought to its notice. Based on the oral complaint, the education department shall conduct an immediate inquiry. If it is found that the institutions are collecting fees in violation of the interim orders passed by this court, immediate action shall be taken against them,” Justice Anand Venkatesh said.
Source: The News Minute