The Coimbatore school education department has instructed private schools not to collect any fee from the parents for the next academic year and it has warned if it receives any complaints, necessary steps would be taken against the schools.
According to the sources, for the past few days, private schools have started demanding fee from parents by phone and message. It has also stated that the students can attend online classes which will start from May first week only after the parents paid the fees. However, some parents are opposed to the school's decision.
Following it, the school education department said that private schools should not collect fees by its circular. Mettupalayam based Parent turned activist, S Basha who sent a petition against a private school about collecting fees to the school education secretary Dheeraj Kumar on Wednesday, said, "Many private schools in the district are forcing parents to pay school fees in advance, before starting the next academic year. A matriculation school is in Mettupalayam and where my son is studying, has been calling me frequently and forced to pay the fee for next academic year by April. We complained against the school to district officials and they assured that spot inquiry would be conducted one or two days in school. Like this, many parents are facing this issue across the state and school education secretary Dheerajkumar to take necessary steps on it immediately." A top educational official in the district said that if complaints received from school regarding fees collection, concerned school names would be forwarded to the school education department for action.
