Bringing relief to private schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu in addressing the financial distress amid the Coronavirus outbreak, the Madras High Court has, on Friday, issued a directive in which it has permitted the private educational institutions to collect an advance fee of 40% from the students before 31st of August. 

The order has lifted the ban imposed by the state government on the private institutions in forcing or demanding the students and parents to pay the fees for the current academic year in the middle of the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic. The court has also permitted the institutions to collect the outstanding dues of the students in the last academic year by September 30. 

The court has issued the order on the handful of petitions moved by the associations of private educational institutions. The institutions filed the pleas to challenge the government's order of restricting them from demanding fees from the students. The government's order was issued on April 20 and it also has directed the institutions not to collect the outstanding dues from the students. 

The association has also sought a directive from the High Court to ban the teachers asking the pay hike for their salaries amid the pandemic and they have demanded the government to issue books at a free of cost for the students. After the hearing, the High Court bench headed by Justice Anand Venkatesh has issued the order on Friday.

In the order, the High Court has permitted the institutions to collect a 40% advance fee from the students before August 31 and the Justice has also accepted the demand from the association that the teachers shouldn't ask the pay hike. He insisted the teachers not to ask for any increment in their salaries amid the lockdown and COVID-19 outbreak. 

He further instructed the state government to supply the textbooks and notebooks to the students at a nominal rate or at free-of-cost which would lower the financial stress of the parents. According to the reports, the 40% scale has been calculated based on the state government's fixation of the fees. The fee structure of the private institutions would normally be framed by the fee fixation committees.

However, since the fixation committee is yet to roll out the new fee structure, the state government has provisionally fixed this year's fee at 75% of the fee that was collected last year. Amid the pandemic, the state government has directed the private institutions not to force students to pay the fee for the current year and the High Court has now revoked the order and permitted the private institutions to collect 40% of that 75% as an advance fee from the students by August 31. 

The court also stated that the balance 35% of the fee has to be collected within two months from the date of reopening the schools and resuming the physical classes. The High Court has directed the fee fixation committee of the private institutions to begin its process of fixing the fees and to complete the process within eight months from August.

The High Court bench said that the interim order has been issued based on the current situation and with the view of leveling the interest of all the stakeholders involved in the matter. The bench has adjourned the hearing on the matter to the 5th of October. The directive has come at a high time when the students are settling up for a new normal of studying through online classes with having no clear idea of when the schools will be reopened.