Fee hike paltry; schools to approach HC

CHENNAI: The Private Scho­ol Fee Determination Comm­ittee, which announced a revised fee structure for sch­ools across the state on Tuesday with a hike of 5 to 15 per cent, left several institutions unhappy. Schools managements said the hike was meagre compared to earlier recommendations of the panel. They plan to file an appeal in the Madras High Court.Venus R Chellappa, general secretary of TN Nursery and Primary Schools Manag­ement Associ­ation, told the media on Tuesday: “We had sought at least Rs 3,000 for kindergarten classes and Rs 5,000 for Class V... A meeting of committee members of this association of 4,000 schools will be held later this week, after which we will meet the Chief Minister.”The new fee structure ma­kes it impossible for schools to pay teachers according to the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and would also force schools to scrap extracurricular activities like celebrating Independence Day or Diwali, said association vice-president, Kumaraguru.