The State Platform for Common School System has petitioned the project director of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan for a stay on the payment of claims to schools under the RTE Act.
P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the organisation, has said in his petition that though under the RTE Act all unaided non-minority schools are supposed to admit children, the government had not taken action against the schools that had not implemented the provisions of the Act.
Only the agitation by parents and persuasion by government that forced schools to report to the government in 2014-15 that they had admitted children as per Sec. 12 (1) c of the RTE Act. “They have not only claimed reimbursement but also threatened the State government that they will not admit children in the current academic year until the government reimburses for children already admitted,” Mr. Babu says.
Many parents have also complained that some schools had forced the parents to pay the fee telling them that the money would be returned once the government reimburses them. This was in violation of the Act itself and the government has not clarified, Mr. Babu has pointed out.
The organisation has also sought to know the syllabus of LKG/UKG classes and the method to arrive at the quantum of reimbursement. Some private schools charged over Rs. 25,000 for LKG.
A senior SSA official said the Directorate of Elementary Education and the Directorate of Matriculation Education have to verify the schools’ claims. “The SSA will make the payment only when the verification is completeThe money will be disbursed only based on the claims made by schools,” the official said.
“The government has not taken action against schools that have not implemented provisions of the
RTE Act”
