Hunt on for new school fee panel chief

With justice K Govindarajan unexpectedly resigning as head of the Tamil Nadu school fee determination committee, the state government has launched a hunt for his successor.

The government is hard-pressed to finalise a name at the earliest considering that every day parents of some school or the other are protesting against collection of excess fees leading to tense situations in institutions. Even on Monday, a section of parents of Kaligi Ranganathan Montfort Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Perambur staged a protest.

With the general elections just a few months away, the ruling DMK can ill-afford to sit over the issue as parents are clueless on whom to complain about the collection of excess fee in the absence of the chairman of the fee determination committee.

On the other hand, managements of private schools too are eagerly awaiting an announcement on the new chairman as they are keen to file applications seeking a review of the existing fee structure in accordance with the physical and academic infrastructure available in their respective institutions.

According to sources, two names are in the recokoning to replace Govindarajan. One of them is that of retired Madras high court judge K P Sivasubramanian, who is known for his integrity. He had earlier headed the one-man inquiry commission to probe into charges of alleged grabbing of land by politically influential persons from Dalits in Siruthavur village in Kancheepuram district.

The other person, who is being apparently considered is a former directo of the Tamil Nadu school education department.

However, when contacted, justice Sivasubramanian said the government had not yet approached him to seek his willingness to the head the fee committee.

A senior school education ministry official said that the name of the chairman would be finalised in consultation with the Madras high court.

Observers say the new chairman will have to do a tight rope walk considering that the school fee structure has suddenly become a sensitive issue with parents, school owners and government having their own concerns. The chairman would have to strike a balance between the government's social responsibility of making school education affordable to all and the practical operational difficulties of private schools.