Private school managements will protest against the State government if the reimbursement of RTE dues is not cleared soon, said D. Shashi Kumar, State general secretary of the Associate Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka.
In a press conference in Hassan on Saturday, Mr. Shashi Kumar said the government was yet to clear ₹650 crore towards RTE reimbursements. “However, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S. Suresh Kumar had said all dues had been cleared. It is a lie. The Minister, who is available only on social media, is playing with the lives of children and the private managements,” he alleged.
Among the 20,000 private schools in the State, more than 18,000 schools were dependent on the monthly fee they collect from parents for routine expenses. More than 60% of the schools were not in a good condition. Only those institutes set up by politicians and industrialists are doing well, he said.
Criticising the government’s move to open schools from January 1, he said the government’s guidelines were silent on who would be responsible if students or teachers contracted COVID-19 infection. The contradictory statements by the Minister had caused confusion among the parents, he said. He also criticised the government for not providing any relief for teachers of private schools during the pandemic. More than 500 schools had been closed down unable to face the situation, he said.
Representatives of the association Gangadhar, Shivaram and others were present at the press conference.
