Schools likely to bear extra cost of RTE

Schools better start saving in order to prepare themselves for bearing the expense of 25% reserved seats for the economically backward students, as per the Children’s Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) passed in April 2010.

Though the government had earlier declared its contribution to the scheme as being Rs12,000 per student, this might be reduced to Rs10,000, sparking a fear among education activists that schools may resort to recovering the excess costs by hiking the fees of the non-reserved students.

As per the RTE, apart from keeping 25% of their seats for children from economically weaker sections, schools cannot charge fees from them. Instead, the state will pay part of their fees, requiring the schools to pay the remaining amount themselves. Last September, CM Prithviraj Chavan agreed on paying the schools Rs12,000 annually per student from the state fund kept aside for these sections.

While a senior education official said the state has allocated Rs10,000 a year per child as that’s the expense in a government school, private schools are crying foul.  ‘’It will be difficult for us to make ends meet and the government should help us to shoulder the burden. It’s unfair to calculate expenses on the basis of a government school as private schools offer many extra facilities,’’ said Vandana Lulla, director principal of Podar International  Group of Schools.