RTE clause on reimbursement finds objection from private schools

Updated on: Monday, April 30, 2012

A day after the State government notified the rules for the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), objections have started pouring in.

The Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA) has demanded that the clause about the reimbursement of fees for admitting 25 per cent students from weaker sections of society be rectified. Even before the rules were notified, private schools had expressed their apprehension about how the amount would be fixed.

K.V. Dhananjay, Supreme Court advocate who represents KUSMA, said the parameter set by the government to calculate the reimbursement amount was illogical. The annual reimbursement amount is likely to be pegged between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 12,000 per child.

The notification said: “The total annual recurring expenditure incurred by the State on elementary education in respect of all schools established or owned by it or by the local authority, divided by the total number of children enrolled in all such schools, shall be the expenditure incurred by the government. For this purpose the expenditure on schools and students enrolled in such schools shall not be included. The government shall notify per child expenditure every year before commencement of academic year, which shall be reimbursed in respect of admission of eligible children to private unaided schools.”
Claim

The association claims that the expenditure varies from school to school and area to area, and it is illogical to consider an average amount for an entire district. “For instance, the overheads will be higher for the schools in central locations, compared to those on the fringes of a district,” Mr. Dhananjay said.

A. Mariyappa, secretary, KUSMA, said it was only one among many objections they had against the RTE rules.

The association now plans to appeal to the government to rectify this rule, before seeking a legal recourse. It is also asking for the inclusion of private school managements in the discussions for calculating the reimbursement amount.

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