(1) No educational agency shall close down a private school or a class or a course or a medium of instruction in the school without the prior approval of the competent authority.
(2) A notice in writing in Form-IV requesting for closure of a school or a class or a course or a medium of instruction in the school shall be given to the competent authority before the 1st day of December of the year preceding the academic year in which the closure is proposed to be given effect.
(3) The educational agency shall submit an affidavit to the effect,-
(a) that intimation regarding closing down of the school has been communicated to the parents of all the pupils studying in the school;
(b) that alternative arrangements for the continuance of the study of the pupils in another recognized school will be made at the end of the said academic year;
(c) that the other school to which the pupils will be transferred is a recognized school;
(d) that necessary arrangements for the admission of the pupils to the other recognized school will be completed before closing down the school;
(e) that the permanent records of the school will be handed over to the concerned competent authority;
(f) that necessary arrangements will be made to deploy the retrenched staff in the manner as prescribed in rule 31; and
(g) that all the members of the educational agency have given their consent for the closure of the school.
(4) The competent authority on receipt of the notice and after satisfying that there are justifiable reasons for entertaining the request for closure, shall pass an order granting approval for closure within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the notice. The order shall specify that the educational agency should make necessary arrangements as sworn in the affidavit referred to in sub-rule (3) and produce a certificate to that effect to the competent authority before closing down the school.
(5) Where the competent authority grants approval for closure during the course of an academic year, such closure shall take effect only after the expiry of the said academic year.
(6) If the competent authority finds that the notice given under sub-rule (2) is defective or the reasons adduced for closure are not satisfactory, the authority shall pass an order refusing to grant approval for closure of the school or a class or a course or a medium of instruction, as the case may be, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the notice after giving the educational agency an opportunity of making a representation.
6 TAMIL NADU GOVERNMENT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY