Wait a day more for revised fees structure

CHENNAI:  For schools that had been waiting for the revised school fee structure to be announced, Monday was a trying day. Though the Raviraja Pandian fee committee handed over the revised structure to the Chief Education Officer in various districts as scheduled, school representatives waiting for the details were told that the structure would be announced only on Tuesday.“We were told to reach the CEO’s office by 11 am to receive the revised fee structure. But we were kept waiting till 6 pm on the premises, after which an announcement was made stating that we should collect it on Tuesday only,” said Purushothaman, correspondent and principal, Everwin Matriculation School, Kolathur. Purushothaman had been waiting at the Chennai district CEO’s office in Saidapet.Officials at the Chennai CEO’s office said that schools in Chennai would receive the revised list only after 7 pm and the same would be announced at a private school on Tuesday. As in Chennai district, schools in other districts in the State are expected to receive their revised fee lists only on Tuesday.D Sabitha, school education secretary, currently in New Delhi, told Express that she could not comment on this delay as it was an issue concerning the fee fixation committee.The Committee’s special officer Thirugnana Sambhamdham issued a press release on Monday stating that the revised fee structure was the result of several consultations held with private schools across the State from November 15, 2010 and would be applicable for academic years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. The revision in fee structure was made based on the school’s location, student strength, infrastructure, remuneration of staff, maintenance and administrative costs, the release said. The fee structure will also be applicable only for schools that possessed recognition under the Tamil Nadu Schools Regulation of Collection of Fee Act 2009, the statement mentioned.Private schools in the State had appealed against the report of the Private School Fee Determination Committee, announced in May last year. The earlier fee committee, headed by Justice K Govindarajan, had brought out a fee structure to be followed by 10,934 schools in the State out of which 6,400 schools sought revision and went on appeal. Of the 430 schools in Chennai, at least 300 had sought a fee revision.