The State government has already released the ₹550 crore earmarked in the 2019-20 Budget for reimbursement of fees of children admitted under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, according to S. Suresh Kumar, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education.
Rubbishing allegations that the government had failed to reimburse school fees of RTE children in private and unaided schools, he said that as on December 23, around 80% progress was achieved, with fees amounting to ₹441.53 crore deposited in the accounts of various schools.
He also claimed that it is for the first time since 2012-13 that the reimbursement of fees had happened in December itself.
The government had resorted to online transfer for reimbursement to cut out the middlemen and ensure that school managements did not suffer on account of anything, he said, adding that the managements were required to submit the requisite documents online in order to claim reimbursement.
“Some schools have failed to adhere to this. For the 2016-17 academic year, 12 schools are yet to submit the requisite documents. It is 29 schools for 2017-18, 71 for 2018-19, and 1,039 for 2019-20. The fees of the RTE students of these schools have not been reimbursed,” the Minister said.
