Madras HC orders TN private schools to display approved fee details on notice board, website: Report

The Madras High Court issued guidelines for all private schools in Tamil Nadu to publish the fees determined by the committee and make it mandatory to publish other fees approved by the competent authority at least one month before the start of each academic year in the school's notice board and on its website, according to Times Of India report.

M Dhandapani gave the order while hearing a plea by the All India Private Educational Institutions Association on Wednesday. The association had raised an objection against an order of the Tamil Nadu Information Commission, along with a later communication from the director of private schools, mandating displaying fee structures publicly at all private schools.

According to the TOI report, the court agreed with the argument raised by the association that the directive issued by the Tamil Nadu Information Commission was exceeding the scope of its jurisdiction and imposed on the private school director to publish fees in public. However, the court noted that an impermissible circular cannot be the one issued by the director of private schools.

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Before admission parent must know fee structure

The parents who want to enroll their children in their preferred school should be informed about the fees that should be paid for their admission in school, so they can make informed decisions without endangering the financial situation of their families.

The fees should be posted within the statutory scheme of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Act, 1983. It believed that the private schools should publish approved fee structure on the school notice board and in the school's website and that it is the authority of the director of private schools to regulate such disclosure.

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Therefore, the court changed the earlier circular and directed the director of the private schools to ensure that all private schools make the fee decided by the fee determination committee public one month before the beginning of each academic year, as reported by TOI.