Nagpur: Maharashtra is staring at a major school education crisis for the 2018-19 academic session as almost 3,000 private unaided schools have decided to boycott the admission process under Right To Education Act (RTE) because of pending payments.
In a rare show of unity, various school associations in state have come together to take a collective call on boycott which can potentially block more than 50,000 RTE admissions.
Independent English Schools Association (IESA), a state-level organization, held a meeting at Nagpur on Saturday to discuss the issue with their local members. Rajendra Singh, Pune-based president of IESA, said, "The decision is unanimous. None of us will participate in the RTE admission process until our dues are cleared off. Around Rs800 crore dues have piled up and this is putting enormous financial strain on schools."
IESA members had a brief phone conversation with state's principal secretary for school education Nand Kumar, but the issue remains unresolved. Jagruti Dharmadhikari, vice-president of IESA, said, "Kumar sir said that the government has already released Rs70 crore for now. But our contention is that this piecemeal approach has to end, full payment must be cleared at one go."
Replying to a TOI query, Kumar sent a text message saying 'Money has been released. They will get it soon'. Schools are convinced that they will not call off their boycott for partial payments.
Rajendra Dayma, Jalna-based vice-president of IESA, agreed saying the 'carrot offers' have to stop. "It has become pattern that government offers us a small amount just before the admission process starts and then we don't hear for the rest of the year," said Dayma. Singh said the non-payment of RTE dues is in fact harming the non-RTE children. "The burden is falling on the remaining 75% students and that's not a good sign."
SC Kedia, president of Mumbai-based United Schools Forum (USF), reiterated that all their members are standing together on this issue. Kedia, said, "Under RTE guidelines, both schools and state government are obligated to play their part. Our job is to give free admissions while the state government reimburses us through two yearly instalments. But we have a situation wherein schools are compelled to keep giving admissions while state has failed to discharge its duties."
Kedia, who is an influential figure among school associations, added that non-payment of dues has affected basic operations. "There is resentment among teachers that they did not get reasonable salary increments. Also, the heavy financial burden may very well force us to stop all extra curricular activities from the new session starting in June. Keeping all these things in mind, and the continued non-cooperation from state, we have decided that no admissions will be given under RTE quota," said Kedia.
IESA president Singh summed it up saying "it's a do-or-die situation for them". Singh, said, "This has to be resolved completely this year itself because such strong unity among all schools is unprecedented and may never happen again."
