Maharashtra school education department recently issued a gazette notification exempting private unaided schools from the mandatory 25% admission quota for disadvantaged groups and weaker sections under certain conditions. As per The Right Of Children To Free And Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) (section 12.1(C)), unaided schools are obligated to ensure that 25% of Class 1 students admitted must belong to “weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood”.With this move, Maharashtra joins Karnataka and Kerala in exempting private schools from RTE admissions, following Karnataka’s 2018 rule and Kerala’s 2011 rules which allow fee concession only if no government or aided schools are within walking distance, set at 1 km for Class 1 students.
Exactly Does the New Rule State
- The new rule prohibits local authorities from identifying private unaided schools for 25% admission of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections under the Maharashtra Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2013, if the government or aided schools (which receive money from the govt) are within one kilometre radius of that school.
- Such private schools no longer need to adhere to the 25% requirement; instead, students in these areas will be given priority for admission to the government or aided schools.
- The notification states that if there are no aided schools in the area, private schools will be selected for RTE admissions and reimbursed for fees, with a new list of obligated schools to be prepared accordingly.
States Introduced Such Exemptions
- Karnataka’s state law minister stated in 2018 that the RTE’s main aim is to offer education to all students, noting that the state’s previous policy of permitting parents to enrol children in private schools near government schools had drastically reduced government school enrollments.
- The Karnataka government’s 2018 gazette notification is currently under judicial scrutiny.
- Private schools and teachers’ organisations have noted that state governments frequently fail to reimburse fees for students admitted under this quota, as mandated by Section 12(2) of the RTE Act, which requires state governments to reimburse schools per-child expenses or the fee amount, whichever is lower.