Nagpur: Private English schools across Maharashtra have refused to admit students under Right To Education (RTE) Act as the State Government has not reimbursed Rs 1,800 crore against the fees of the students admitted under RTE for the past six years.
Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) has threatened to recover the money from the students admitted under RTE if the Government did not pay the pending amount. MESTA members said they were afraid that the burden of the arrears, which have been accumulating for the past six years under RTE admissions, would now fall on the parents of the students admitted under RTE.
The Association’s stand may deprive students of the right to education. The Government has reserved 25 percent seats for children under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. These children are admitted to private English schools for free and their fees are paid by the Government. However, reimbursements since 2017-18 have been pending with the State Government. Of the total amount pending, the Government has so far released only around Rs 200 crore, reports said, adding that some schools had been awaiting the amounts since 2012.
Gold Rate
Saturday08 Feb. 2025
In the last Assembly Session, the State Government had filed an official reply on this issue, admitting that Rs 707.49 crore from 2012-13 to 2021-22, was pending with it. For the academic year 2022-23, the Government set aside Rs 200 crore, of which Rs 84 crore were disbursed. School organisations do not agree with the Government statistics. They say that the pending reimbursement amount is much more.
Dr Sanjay Tayade Patil, Founder President of MESTA said, “We are ready to face action, but we will not give admissions under RTE now. 18,000 schools in the State are members of our association. In 2017, the Government gave only 50 percent of the amount. After that, the amount was reduced to 15 to 17 percent, and then only 7-8 percent was given. During the coronavirus pandemic period, the amount was reduced to Rs 8,000 per student, from Rs 17, 676. After the pandemic, the original amount was restored, but the Government did not reimburse any of it.”
Despite a decrease in the amount, the Government failed to make most of the disbursements. Due to non-receipt of dues for a long time, some schools are now on the verge of closure. Others are trying to find ways to avoid admissions under RTE. “State Government has issued a direction under which schools are supposed to fill up district-wise, schools-wise and student-wise information on the state’s RTE portal. Some schools missed the deadline and now the Government got a tool to avoid schools regarding reimbursement. We will collect whatever outstanding balance is due from the parents. Parents should fight with the Government,” warned Dr Patil.
