Parents at the mercy of CBSE schools as fees go through roof in Tamil Nadu
COIMBATORE: New bags, books, shoes, uniforms, fees; the list goes on.
For parents of children studying in private schools, the academic year begins on a hectic note, for they have to shell out more, especially towards school fees, as the institutions hike the fees every year. This seems to a problem being faced by parents of students studying in CBSE schools across the state.
Here is a postal department employee who got the shock of his life when a school on Avinashi Road in Coimbatore where his daughter is studying in Class 7 increased the annual fees by Rs 50,000 all of a sudden. “The fee for Class 7 was increased from Rs 82,000 last year to Rs 1,32,000 this year. When asked, the school authorities just replied it was hiked for the development of school infrastructure and extra-curricular activities, but they did not give any details. With no option left, I had to pay the fee from my savings,” he said.
Private CBSE schools had managed to get an interim order from Supreme Court, allowing them to fix fee on their own. The state government has not challenged the order for the past eight years.
Another parent K Susmitha whose son is studying in a CBSE school at Puliyakulam in Coimbatore said, “The fees has been increased by Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 every year depending on the class. I have to pay a tuition fee of Rs 93,500 for my son studying in Class 6. Last year, the fee was Rs 78,000 for the same class, in addition to Rs 15,000 collected for textbooks, uniform, shoes, etc.”
N Nithila, mother of a Class 9 student in a CBSE school in Madurai said the fee was increased by 30% this year. “We were asked to pay 40% of the fee in cash at the school, and the remaining through bank transfer. The fee hike is a bolt from the blue as already prices of essential goods are sky-rocketing, and people from the middle class are forced to borrow money to meet their children’s educational expenses,” she said.
The increase in fee is too much to bear, as an assistant professor from Ayothiapattinam in Salem shifted his son, studying in Class 5, from a CBSE school to a matriculation school due to a Rs 17,000 hike in fee this year.
Let alone annual fees, many parents claim the schools have been demanding money in lakhs of rupees in the form of donations for new admissions depending on the school.
“There is a provision in the RTE Act that if parents feel a particular school is collecting excess fees, they can file a complaint with the fee committee. In practice, parents are not willing to lodge complaints with the committee, which makes it inactive,” S Arumainathan, state president of Tamil Nadu Student Parents Welfare Association said
Sources said after the implementation of RTE Act in 2011, the state government tried to regulate the fees of CBSE schools through Tamil Nadu Private Schools Fee Determination Committee, for conducting RTE admissions. Opposing this, CBSE schools obtained a stay from the Madras High Court.
Later, the state government appealed against the stay in 2012 and a division bench of the high court dismissed the writ petitions filed by a CBSE school association, saying CBSE schools will come under the purview of the fee committee. Then a CBSE school association approached the Apex court and obtained an interim order. But, the state government failed to appeal against the interim order.
“We submitted many petitions to school education secretaries and the committee’s chairman to appeal against the interim order, but they were not willing. The committee’s chairman told us that if needed, parents can file an appeal against the SC’s interim order. The government is trying to escape from its social responsibility,” he alleged.
A top officer in the directorate of matriculation schools has also confirmed that the department has not taken steps to challenge the interim order.
When contacted, senior counsel, P Wilson who represented the parents association of a CBSE school in the case told TNIE that the Supreme Court should consider curtailing the power of CBSE schools with regard to fees fixation.
The principal of a CBSE school in Madurai admitted that CBSE and ICSE schools have fee determination committee, consisting of a parent representative, only for namesake. “These committees normally okay fees fixed by the management,” he said.
A mathematics teacher, C Shivanjali, working in a CBSE school in Coimbatore alleged that the school management hikes the fees by a minimum of 20% annually and don’t give teachers proper salary hike.
Defending CBSE schools, KR Nandakumar, general secretary, TN Nursery, Matriculation and CBSE Schools Association, said CBSE schools provide high-quality education and top-notch facilities like AC classrooms, extracurricular activities for skill enhancement, mentorship, and a safe, child-friendly environment to nurture the realisation of students’ full potential.
“CBSE schools pay at least Rs 10 lakh annually to the government towards 18 types of taxes. This apart, we have to give bribe to get certificates like sanitary, fire, building stability etc for school renewal, which adds up to the fee hike,” he alleged.
Tamil Nadu Private Schools Fee Determination Committee chairperson R Balasubramanian did not immediately respond to queries sent on the official email. S Madumathi, who recently took charge as School Education Secretary, said she is unaware of the issue, but assured to look into it.
School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi could not be reached for comments.
Sharp rise in number of CBSE schools in TN
From 390 CBSE schools, including those run by Central government in 2013, the number of CBSE schools in Tamil Nadu has gone up to 1,617 in 2024.