For all its good intentions, controversy regularly dogs the seats reserved for students under the RTE Act with the issue of private schools asking parents to cough up money under various heads cropping up with dismaying regularity.
Now, a study covering 100 parents whose children were admitted in private schools in Bengaluru (Urban) district found that 92 had paid ‘fees’ to the school management, even though this is against the law. The study was carried out by RTE Task Force, an NGO, the details of which were released on Thursday.
According to the study, the 92 parents cumulatively paid ₹9.32 lakh to various schools in the last three years. Their children have been enrolled in schools since the 2012-13 academic year. The average amount paid for a child under the RTE quota was ₹17,657.
The survey found that parents were ‘dejected’ at having to shell out money under various categories, including textbooks, uniforms and computer lab fee.
Most parents, who were interviewed, claimed that the schools do not give them receipts for the money. What’s more, 65% knew that they were not required to give money to the school, but did so anyway as they felt they didn’t have a choice.
RTE Task Force Convener Nagasimha G. Rao said that many parents feared that their students would be targeted if they did not pay up or made a noise about it.
In fact, 42 parents said that they are ready to pay the ‘fees’ in the coming years too, as they felt it is ‘inevitable’.
Ninety-six of the 100 parents were willing to reveal their annual income to the NGO. A majority (63) earned anywhere between ₹ 20,000 and ₹50,000 per annum. Another 18 said their annual incomes were in the ₹10,000-₹20,000 bracket while four earned less than ₹10,000. Only three reported an annual income above ₹1 lakh while eight said that they earned anywhere between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh.
Most of the fathers were daily wage workers. 10% were employed in private companies while 14% were involved in business. Only 14% of the mothers were working, indicating that the fathers were the sole bread-winners.
24 parents had approached the Department of Public Instruction or the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, but only five got a reply to their complaints.
Annual income | Parents*
₹1 lakh | 3
₹50,000 - ₹1 lakh | 8
₹20,000 - ₹50,000 | 63
₹10,000 - ₹20,000 | 18
< ₹10,000 | 4
* Income details were shared by 96 of the 100 parents who participated in the survey
