Reimburse in time for admissions under RTE Act: Private schools in Gurgaon to govt

GURGAON: As the academic session draws to a close, private schools in the city have complained that they are yet to get reimbursed for providing free education under the RTE Act to students of economically weaker sections (EWS).
Several associations said on Sunday that schools may hesitate to admit EWS students under RTE for the next academic session if the government doesn’t clear the reimbursements soon.

But government officials denied there were any delays and said school administrations had not completed paperwork that was necessary to get the reimbursements.
“The government has not provided any reimbursement to schools till now. The same had happened earlier, when Rule 134A was in place. Schools had to keep fighting to get the reimbursements, but most got partial amounts only. If the same approach is used here, schools may resist new admissions,” said Anil Kaushik, president of Progressive Private Schools Association.
Under the central Right to Education (RTW) Act, schools are mandated to reserve seats and admit students of EWS categories to entry-level classes such as kindergarten and Class 1 without charging any fees.
Though RTE was introduced long back, it wasn’t applied in Haryana until last year. Before the central law, schools in the state would admit meritorious EWS students under the 10% reservation made compulsory by Rule 134A of the Haryana Education Rules. School administrations were to be reimbursed twice in an academic session for implementing this scheme too.
Some associations said they will consider protesting if the reimbursements aren’t given in time.
“Last year, the government introduced RTE and scrapped Rule 134A. Many schools did not take EWS admissions because the government had not cleared their previous dues under Rule 134A. Post Holi, we'll hold a statewide meeting and try to resolve the issue through dialogue. If that fails, a statewide protest will be considered,” said Ram Awtar, president of Private Schools Welfare Association.
Schools also raised objections about the reimbursement amount fixed by the government at Rs 1,730/month for every child given admission under RTE. They have also demanded that the reimbursement should be given by the end of this month for academic session 2022-23.
“The government has not released the formula on the basis of which it has decided the per child reimbursement cost. It must reveal how much is given to government schools for implementing RTE and that amount should be fixed for private schools too. Additionally, it should chalk out a proper timeline and schedule for reimbursements to avoid yearly disputes,” said Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the National Private School Association.
The education department said on Sunday that schools are yet to submit details of the students admitted under RTE. “We are committed to reimbursing all private schools that had given admission to EWS students in the 2022-23 academic session,” a department official said.