Chennai, July 8:
The Madras High Court has directed all private schools in Tamil Nadu to display their fee structure on school notice boards, ensuring greater transparency for parents and students.
The directive comes in line with the Private Schools Regulation Act, even though private institutions do not fall under the ambit of the Right to Information Act. The court emphasized that transparency in fee collection is essential and must be upheld by all private educational institutions across the state.
Earlier, the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission had, on May 25, instructed the Directorate of Private Schools to make it mandatory for schools to publicly display government-approved fee details. Following this, the Director of Private Schools issued a circular on June 1 to all private nursery, primary, matriculation, CBSE, and other board schools to comply with the order.
However, the directive was challenged in court by the All India Private Educational Institutions Association, represented by its general secretary K. Palaniyappan, seeking to quash both the commission’s order and the subsequent circular.
Hearing the plea, Justice M. Dhandapani upheld the directive, stating that while private schools may not be directly governed by RTI provisions, they are still obligated under regulatory laws to maintain fairness and openness. The court ultimately dismissed the petition and reaffirmed that all private schools must display their fee details prominently on their premises.