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Maharashtra cabinet clears RTE rule, private schools fume

The state cabinet on Wednesday cleared the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rule, 2011, that would facilitate the state government in implementing the RTE Act passed by the Centre in 2009.

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The state cabinet on Wednesday cleared the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rule, 2011, that would facilitate the state government in implementing the RTE Act passed by the Centre in 2009.

This means the children from slums can opt for any private school run by a central or international board in their vicinity.

But, the state cabinet's decision to implement the Right To Education (RTE) Act in its true spirit has left private and international schools unhappy.

Reason: Private and international educational institutes, that charge high fees, will have to admit 25% children from the economically weaker section and even pay for part of their education.

Even the state government admitted that it will be difficult to implement this.

Under this rule, the state government will contribute up to Rs12,000 per student per year as tuition fees and the rest of the cost has to be borne by the school.

Admitting that it would be tough to implement the Act, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said: “We are working out the mechanism for the implementation. Though it’s a complicated issue, the central act has to be implemented in the interest of the common man.”

He added that the 25% quota will include students from SC/ST and other reserved categories.

State school education minister Rajendra Darda said it was a major decision and Maharashtra was the third state to implement the Act after Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

The decision to clear the rule was unanimously approved by the state cabinet on Wednesday though a few ministers had opposed it when it was first mooted in the cabinet a few weeks ago.

The state cabinet also decided to allow the management representative to head the school management committee in private schools with 75% parents as members. In aided and government schools, the committee will be headed by the parents' representative.

The cabinet decided to extend its primary section to Class 8 to include children up to 14 of age under the RTE Act.

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