As per report private schools in tamilnadu continue to compel parents to pay up, with many sending messages and reminders through SMS, whatsapp and emails to the parents about the first-term fee. In many cases, parents have already paid anywhere upwards of Rs 30,000 for the first term, because the schools kept sending them reminders. Though the messages sent by the schools do not actively compel parents to pay the fees, linking it to children’s education always works in favour of the schools. Another major bone of contention between the parents and the schools is that the schools expect the parents to pay up extra fees, including transport and uniform. This has left many parents wondering why schools are charging when the students are not physically going to their classrooms. It has been a rough end to the academic year for the schools in tamilnadu, thanks to the cancellation of classes and exams. 

Normally, the private schools in the state tell the parents to pay the pending dues just before the year-end examinations. But since the state government cancelled the year-end exams for classes 1 to 9, schools are staring a lack of funds.  Schools not being able to collect pending fees has, in turn, affected the salaries of teachers and other support staff. Private schools generally pay vacation salaries to their teachers during summer holidays (April-May) as most of them ask teachers to come to school on a rotational basis for preparation for the next academic year. These teachers take care of the distribution of books, prepare timetables for the next academic year and engage in other administrative work related to academics. 

Most private schools in tamil Nadu have only paid 50% salaries to the teachers. It is because they do not have money to pay them. Usually, we tell the parents to pay the pending fee before the annual exams and use that amount to pay salaries. But this year, annual exams were cancelled and there is no way we can even get the pending dues from parents,” rued Nandhakumar, who is also a lawyer. Apart from criticising the state government for lacking foresight while passing orders, Balakrishnan also urged it to use the pandemic as an opportunity to strengthen the infrastructure in government schools. “Tamil Nadu should rethink its funding priorities for school education. It is high time the state reevaluates its freebie policy and instead allocate more money to upgrade school infrastructure. There are still many schools that lack water and sanitation. This is the right time to rethink its priorities and amp up the school system in the state.”