Chennai: Three months after school education minister Rajmohan said the process for granting permission to open schools and renewing approvals would be moved online, private-school associations say several applications remain pending.The Federation of Private Schools Association (FePSA) said renewal applications from about 5,000 schools across the state are awaiting approval. These schools had obtained building permissions from their respective local bodies before May 2026. The applications are pending because the schools do not have approval from the Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), FePSA president M Arumugam said. The directorate of private schools had issued a circular in March stating that renewals could be granted until May 2026 to schools that had obtained local-body building permissions, even if they did not have DTCP approval.While the schools were assured that the renewal orders will be expedited after the system was made entirely online, no progress has been made, Arumugam said. Without renewal, the schools are finding it difficult to obtain permits and FC for school buses. If any untoward incident occurs in any of these schools, it could lead to serious problems for the respective school, FePSA said in a representation.The association further said that upgradation orders were yet to be issued to at least 100 schools, despite the respective district educational officers (private schools) recommending the same. “The govt must immediately clear pending applications as the process is now entirely online and fast-track applications for which no DTCP approvals are required,” Arumugam added.
