Increased RTE reimbursement is still insufficient, say schools

MUMBAI: The state school education department has increased the compensation to schools for admitting students from economically weaker sections to the 25% reserved

MUMBAI: The state school education department has increased the compensation to schools for admitting students from economically weaker sections to the 25% reserved seats under the Right to Education (RTE) quota.

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In a notification dated May 30, the state government increased the reimbursement amount to be given to schools by around Rs2,000.

Earlier, schools were being paid Rs14, 621 per child during academic year 2013-14 and Rs12,315 per child during academic year 2012-13.

The compensation for academic year 2015-16 has been raised to Rs17,321 per child. This proposal has been sent to the Centre for its nod. Schools will be reimbursed this amount or their tuition fees, whichever is less. The amount will keep increasing every year, said officials.

Schools, however, have said that the compensation amount is not sufficient and will not cover their expenses. “Besides tuition fees, we also provide several facilities and infrastructure to the students. The amount fixed by the government will barely meet our expenses,” said Amol Dhamdhere, vice-president, Indian Education Society Group of Schools.

“In the past three years, we have admitted 1,000 students to seats reserved under the RTE quota and have nearly 323 vacant seats reserved in the pre-primary section,” said a representative of Goenka and Associates Educational Trust that runs schools in Goregaon and Thane. “Our fees are nearly Rs3,000 per month, but we have still not been reimbursed fully.”