4,000 private schools in Maharashtra threaten to strike over RTE issues

The Federation of Schools Association of Maharashtra, an umbrella body of 16 school associations across the state, called for a state-wide strike on Monday to protest against various issues regarding the implementation of Right to Education (RTE) law.

While over 4,000 private English medium schools across the state threatened to join the strike, around 250 schools from the city have given a written confirmation regarding their participation.

However, late on Friday evening, state education minister Vinod Tawde announced that the government had cleared ₹407 crore as reimbursement money and appealed the schools to call off their bandh.

Earlier, the association members raised objections over November 1, 2018, government resolution, which provided for the creation of a committee to inspect the implementation of RTE norms in schools. “This would create a licence raj and corruption will increase as officials will not give clearances easily. The government needs to get rid of this provision,” said Sanjay Kulkarni, secretary, Management of Private Unaided Schools, which will be a part of the protest. Schools also plan to raise the issue of pending reimbursements from the state after they reserved 25% of their seats for children from economically weak families under RTE quota. “Reimbursements worth ₹600 crore are still pending,” added Kulkarni.

Anubha Sahai, president, India-wide Parents’ Association said, “We oppose the schools’ move.”