RTE students’ parents should take new admission after class 8
Pune schools cancel RTE students' registration due to unpaid fees, advise new admissions after Class 8. Government changes RTE rules, raises concerns over fee reimbursement.
Pune: With some schools in Pune deciding to cancel the registration of students who have studied up to Class 8 by taking admission under the Right to Education Act (RTE) despite the director of primary education, Sharad Gosavi’s order not to do so if these students want to study in the same school, the private schools’ association is now advising the RTE students’ parents to take new admissions after Class 8.
The government owes the schools crores of rupees in fees reimbursement of students admitted under RTE and the same is increasing every year with no guarantee when it will be paid. Furthermore, the government has changed the RTE to the effect that if there is a government or private aided school within a distance of 1 km, students will not be given admission under RTE to the English medium school.
“Also, the government will not be responsible for the fee reimbursement amount of these students if they take admission in such a school. Therefore, most of the English medium schools have taken a cautious stance. If the parents are ready to pay the fees of the respective school, the school should not cancel the students’ certificates,” Gosavi explained through the letter. As the schools are wary of such a situation, the management of the educational institutions has taken a stand that RTE students take fresh new admission after Class 8.
City International School in Pune had earlier sent a letter to the parents of RTE students saying it will issue certificates to RTE Class 8 students after the examination. The Maharashtra Nav Nirman Vidyarthi Sena staged a protest against this. Although it is the responsibility of the director of education to provide relief to the parents by removing such a circular, there is a very real question of who will pay the students’ fees. “The government has given admission as a guardian and the fee from Classes 1 to 8 has been paid by the government. The guardian has not taken admission even once and has not given any guarantee to the school about the fee. There is free education till Class 8 and some parents may say that even this education will be free, so they did not send their children to school,” said professor Mahesh Salunkhe, a senior educationist from Pune.
“If the parents refuse to pay the fees of the RTE students who have passed from Class 8 to Class 9, the question arises as to who will pay the fees of these students. Hence, the parents should cancel the certificates of RTE students and take fresh new admissions for their children. That way, both the school and the government will not face any problem regarding the fees,” said Ravindra Chorge, vice-president, Independent English Schools’ Association.
“Around ₹1,700 crore has been spent by the government from Class 1 to 8 under RTE admissions. The government has not followed the guarantee given as per the provisions of the law. If the government does not pay the fee and if the parents also do not pay, then the question may arise as to how the schools of Classes 9 and 10 will be able to afford it. Therefore, it is advisable to withdraw the certificates and take fresh admission for the students. Also, Maratha reservation should be implemented for RTE admissions from the current academic year, and the PAN of parents should be made compulsory,” said Sanjay Kumar Chavan Patil, founder-president, Self-financing Schools’ Association, Maharashtra.
