Pune/ Mumbai: Students seeking admissions under the 25 % reserved seats of the Right to Education Act, 2009 will now have a govt-run school closest to their residence as their first choice, followed by a private-aided school while the last preference would be a private unaided school.
The state govt has issued a gazetted notification following complaints from private schools in Maharashtra regarding lack of fee reimbursements to the tune of over Rs 200 crore accumulated over the past five years.
The admission scheme under RTE has been operational in the state since 2011 and only private unaided schools were considered in the ambit. However, besides the reimbursements, govt also faced the issue of illegal admissions by submitting fake documents to bag a seat in private English medium schools.
Director of primary education department Sharad Gosavi said that the admission schedule will soon be announced for this year following the new changes.
While parents and education experts say it will rob students of a good English-medium school, education officers said it will draw students back to government schools where efforts are on to raise the standards of English education.
RTE implementation in the state began from 2017-18 for students aged 6-14.Meanwhile, private school owners said they were relieved about the changes but stated that their pending dues be cleared at the earliest. This pattern is followed by the Karnataka government. In Maharashtra, more than one lakh students register under the scheme every year for admissions to private schools.
Deputy secretary Tushar Mahajan stated in the notification that: “The local authority shall not identify the private unaided school, for 25% admission of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections under the Maharashtra Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Manner of admission of minimum 25% of children in Class I or pre-school at the entry level for the children belonging to a disadvantaged group and weaker section) Rules, 2013, where govt schools and aided schools are situated within a radius of one km.”
Gosavi said, “Since admission to private medium schools will not be given, students will have no choice but to opt for zilla parishad, municipal and municipal schools. Therefore, all govt and aided schools, including zilla parishad schools, are likely to have good admissions.”
More than three lakh students apply online every year for RTE seats. According to the notification, if there is a govt or aided school in the area of an unaided school, applicant will be given in the govt school as first choice.
Mukund Kirdat, spokesperson of Aam Admi Party Parents’ Union, said, “This decision will create a division between rich schools and poor schools on a direct economic basis and disturb the social balance. Children of the weaker community can no longer get English education from private schools.”
Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson, of the Maharashtra School Principals’ Association, said the change in the RTE Act will benefit zilla parishad schools and reduce the importance of English medium schools.
All schools, barring unaided minority schools and those imparting religious instructions, had to reserve 25% of their total seats for entry level admission (pre-school or class 1) for disadvantaged groups and weaker sections.
This year, 8,824 schools, including 337 in Mumbai, had RTE seats. Across the state, 63% vacancies were filled.
In Mumbai, only 37% of the 6,569 seats were filled. Next year, the number of seats is expected to drop drastically.
In Mumbai, said education experts, most private unaided schools have either a municipal or an aided school within a one kilometre radius. “Govt wants to wash off its responsibility of providing primary education to poor students. Most parents opt for private schools. If they are kept out, children will be forced to study in civic and aided schools,” said an education expert.
He added that the move could also be a fallout of National Education Policy (NEP) that advocates RTE from age 3 to 18.
This year, a section of private unaided schools in the state and Mumbai boycotted RTE admissions. Over 30,000 seats in private unaided schools were not available for RTE admissions.
Though the seats could not be filled with general candidates (as per the rules), schools were happy keeping them vacant rather than incur expenses and not get a refund.
While the state gives over Rs 17,000 per student a year, schools claim to incur anywhere between Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 per RTE child.
This year, state earmarked Rs 200 crore for fee reimbursement, of which around Rs 138 crore has been released so far.
Sanjay Patil, president, Maharashtra English School Trustees Association, said fees since 2017, when admissions went online, are pending. As per the amendment, private unaided schools enjoying benefit of state schemes have to participate in RTE admissions. Such schools, however, will not get any reimbursement.
The state govt has issued a gazetted notification following complaints from private schools in Maharashtra regarding lack of fee reimbursements to the tune of over Rs 200 crore accumulated over the past five years.
The admission scheme under RTE has been operational in the state since 2011 and only private unaided schools were considered in the ambit. However, besides the reimbursements, govt also faced the issue of illegal admissions by submitting fake documents to bag a seat in private English medium schools.
Director of primary education department Sharad Gosavi said that the admission schedule will soon be announced for this year following the new changes.
While parents and education experts say it will rob students of a good English-medium school, education officers said it will draw students back to government schools where efforts are on to raise the standards of English education.
RTE implementation in the state began from 2017-18 for students aged 6-14.Meanwhile, private school owners said they were relieved about the changes but stated that their pending dues be cleared at the earliest. This pattern is followed by the Karnataka government. In Maharashtra, more than one lakh students register under the scheme every year for admissions to private schools.
Deputy secretary Tushar Mahajan stated in the notification that: “The local authority shall not identify the private unaided school, for 25% admission of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections under the Maharashtra Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Manner of admission of minimum 25% of children in Class I or pre-school at the entry level for the children belonging to a disadvantaged group and weaker section) Rules, 2013, where govt schools and aided schools are situated within a radius of one km.”
Gosavi said, “Since admission to private medium schools will not be given, students will have no choice but to opt for zilla parishad, municipal and municipal schools. Therefore, all govt and aided schools, including zilla parishad schools, are likely to have good admissions.”
More than three lakh students apply online every year for RTE seats. According to the notification, if there is a govt or aided school in the area of an unaided school, applicant will be given in the govt school as first choice.
Mukund Kirdat, spokesperson of Aam Admi Party Parents’ Union, said, “This decision will create a division between rich schools and poor schools on a direct economic basis and disturb the social balance. Children of the weaker community can no longer get English education from private schools.”
Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson, of the Maharashtra School Principals’ Association, said the change in the RTE Act will benefit zilla parishad schools and reduce the importance of English medium schools.
All schools, barring unaided minority schools and those imparting religious instructions, had to reserve 25% of their total seats for entry level admission (pre-school or class 1) for disadvantaged groups and weaker sections.
This year, 8,824 schools, including 337 in Mumbai, had RTE seats. Across the state, 63% vacancies were filled.
In Mumbai, only 37% of the 6,569 seats were filled. Next year, the number of seats is expected to drop drastically.
In Mumbai, said education experts, most private unaided schools have either a municipal or an aided school within a one kilometre radius. “Govt wants to wash off its responsibility of providing primary education to poor students. Most parents opt for private schools. If they are kept out, children will be forced to study in civic and aided schools,” said an education expert.
He added that the move could also be a fallout of National Education Policy (NEP) that advocates RTE from age 3 to 18.
This year, a section of private unaided schools in the state and Mumbai boycotted RTE admissions. Over 30,000 seats in private unaided schools were not available for RTE admissions.
Though the seats could not be filled with general candidates (as per the rules), schools were happy keeping them vacant rather than incur expenses and not get a refund.
While the state gives over Rs 17,000 per student a year, schools claim to incur anywhere between Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 per RTE child.
This year, state earmarked Rs 200 crore for fee reimbursement, of which around Rs 138 crore has been released so far.
Sanjay Patil, president, Maharashtra English School Trustees Association, said fees since 2017, when admissions went online, are pending. As per the amendment, private unaided schools enjoying benefit of state schemes have to participate in RTE admissions. Such schools, however, will not get any reimbursement.