Can't evade statutory obligation, private schools must display fee structure: Madras HC

CHENNAI: Private schools are required to display approved fee structure on their notice boards and websites as mandated under the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Rules, ruled the Madras High Court.

Citing the Private Schools Act and the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Rules, Justice M Dhandapani held that schools must display details of their infrastructure, staff strength, student strength, seats available in each standard, approved fee structure and other facilities, and update the information regularly on the notice board.

On May 25, the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNIC) directed the Directorate of Private Schools to ensure that all private nursery, primary, matriculation, CBSE, and other board-affiliated schools display approved tuition fee details on or before June 5.

Challenging this, the All India Private Educational Institutions Association, represented by its general secretary K Palaniappan, filed a writ petition, citing Supreme Court rulings to contend that the Right to Information Act does not apply to private educational institutions. The State government cannot regulate schools functioning under central boards, it added.

In response, the State argued that only individual schools, and not an association, could challenge the order.

The court agreed that private schools were not under the control of the government and thus would not fall within the ambit of Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act to be held as a 'public authority'. However, they cannot evade the statutory obligation prescribed under the Private Schools Act and the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Rules, said the court, adding that it is the duty of the competent authorities to ensure strict compliance with the rules.