School body boycotts RTE quota admission over pending dues from state

Independent English School Association (IESA) has decided to boycott the RTE online admission registration this year unless it gets assurance in writing from the state government regarding pending reimbursement of 2012-13, 2013-2014 and 2014-15.

As many as 840 schools from Maharashtra, out of which 100 are from Pune, under IESA have decided to boycott the process.

National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) secretary Amit Chandra said, "IESA schools are members of NISA and a large number of schools have in fact boycotted the process."

"We have given a letter to the education commissioner asking for clarity on reimbursement or to give a choice to schools to select the entry point for the quota admission. The education department has served de-recognition notices to around 100 schools in Pune who have refused to register themselves for the RTE admission. On the one hand, the education department is forcing schools to give admission to children in pre-primary, and on the other hand, it is not giving reimbursement to schools," said Rajendra Singh, president of the Federation of Private Unaided Schools Association of Maharashtra.

According to Singh, all schools from Mumbai can take part in boycotting the registration process.

When called, BMC's education officer D Charate said, "I am out of the state right now and can't give any details."