As per the recommendations of the Tamil Nadu government’s Private Schools Fee Determination Committee, headed by Justice S R Singaravelu, the niche schools in Chennai with less than 300 students are set to implement some major changes in the 2016 academic year, to offset the new fee structure.
The big ICSE, CBSE and matriculation schools have joined forces to seek legal redress. However, several small and mid-size schools are bracing themselves for the inevitable choice – expand or closed down. The small schools and schools which are offering specialised education, and were earlier reluctant to tamper with the teacher student ratio, may now take more students in the next academic year and also reduce the number of extracurricular activities.
As per the information on the Tamil Nadu government website, the annual fees fixed by the committee is between Rs 3,000 and Rs 40,000, depending on the infrastructure, number of teachers and students. In some cases, the fee fixed by the committee is about one-third of the current fees charged by the schools.
