Having spent over Rs. 160 crore towards fee payment of students admitted in private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in 2014-15, the Education Department is contemplating whether to continue with the RTE quota, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education Kimmane Ratnakar has said.
Replying to a question by Dayanand, Congress MLC, in the Legislative Council, the Minister said the Centre was also thinking on the same lines and a final decision would be taken by January. The amount could be spent to improve government schools, he argued.
For better infrastructure
“We have so far spent Rs. 365 crore towards fee payment to private schools. So far, 3.16 lakh children have been admitted to private schools and the government is paying for them. If we spend the amount on providing infrastructure in our schools, they can be on a par with private schools,” Mr. Ratnakar said.
He assured that the department would soon deposit the pending fee amount to private schools for students admitted in 2015-16 and that the future of students would not be affected.
