Last Update: March 11, 2023, 2:23 pm IST
Maharashtra had reduced the annual fees of RTE quota students to Rs 8,000 after schools were closed due to the March 2020 lockdown (Representational image).
As per the RTE Act, private unaided schools reserve one-fourth of their seats for children from marginalized and economically poor sections of the society.
Maharashtra government has increased the fees of children admitted in private unaided schools under Right to Education (RTE) quota. This changed fee structure marks a return to the expenses incurred by the central and state administration for the study of such students in the pre-Covid times in the state, reported a leading news daily.
The state had reduced the annual fee for RTE quota students to Rs 8,000 after schools were closed due to the March 2020 lockdown. After this in the academic year 2021-22 also. In the academic year 2019-20, before the outbreak of the pandemic, the fee was Rs 17,670.
The RTE Act requires that private unaided schools reserve one-fourth of their seats for children from marginalized and economically poor sections of society. The mandate is applicable from entry level till class 8. The government pays the fees of these students. A provision in the RTE Act says that all reimbursement is to be borne by the Central and State Governments in the ratio of 60:40.
However, in Maharashtra, as in many other states in India, reimbursement has been slow. As per reports, ever since the RTE Act was first implemented in the state in 2011-12, the state government has sent payments only in chunks. This has messed up the finances of many schools across Maharashtra.
“The government has to give refunds of around Rs 1,200 crore to schools from the academic year 2017-18,” Pravin Awhale, president of the Maharashtra English Schools Association (MESA), told the publication less than three months ago.
SC Kedia, honorary secretary of the Unaided Schools Forum, said, “Definitely the government owes more than Rs 1,200 crore. They are misleading the public by hiding the actual figures.”
In February, officials said that there are over one lakh seats under the RTE 25 per cent reservation quota. They are spread across over 8,600 schools in Maharashtra. The registration for students applying under this quota started on February 20. The response from private schools was lukewarm, with an expected 9,230 schools registering for the initiative.
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