Pvt schools come out with ‘attractive’ offers on fees

After scores of parents were unable to pay school fees – including some cases where the last instalment from the previous academic year – many among the 13,000-odd private schools in the State were unable to pay salaries to the teachers and staff.

The organisation representing the school managements had reached out to the State government proposing education loan to parents to tide over the crisis, but it did not succeed. Following this, many private schools have decided to innovate. They have tied up with finance companies to provide interest-free loans to enable parents pay the fee.

According to KR Nandhakumar, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation, Higher Secondary and CBSE Schools Association, to ensure that the academic activities progressed despite the crisis, the school managements were trying to help the parents who are in financial crisis due to the lockdown.

Nandhakumar, who heads a private school in Pammal, said his institution has partnered with a finance company to provide instant loans to the parents to pay the fees. “We bear the 12 per cent interest rate for the loans in a bid to reduce the burden of the parents,” he added.

K Shankar, a senior administrative staff at a private high school in Tambaram, added that apart from providing loans, his institution has also offered instalment options – weekly or monthly – besides providing free textbooks.

S Raja, secretary of Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, said: “We had requested both the State and Centre to provide loans to private schools that are hit by the financial crisis. However, there is no progress on this till now. So the private institutions have come forward to help parents by offering various fees payment options.”

There are about 13,000 private schools, from elementary level to the higher secondary level, across Tamil Nadu that have around 64 lakh students.