Two major school associations say no RTE admissions until demands are met.
Nagpur:- Two of Maharashtra ‘s largest association of English medium-budget schools say they will not give admissions under the RTE quota until their pending demands are met. The Association of Independent English Schools (IESA) and the Association of Maharashtra English Schools Trustees (MESTA) are firm in their decision not to proceed with RTE admissions for which seat allocation has already been done through online lottery.
Although both have a shared demand for clearing out pending RTE bills, IESA says the other problem concerns a new standard for calculating reimbursements. IESA president Rajendra Dayma said the move was made a couple of months ago and that it would sound the death knell for their budget colleges.
“As per law, the RTE quota must be reserved for 25% of the total class strength. So for 25 RTE students in a class strength of 100, the government must pay us out. But now, the department of education says payment will be made for 25% of the number of students admitted to the general group, “Dayma said.
He added that this sounds confusing and that is why the warning signs were not understood by many people. “So, say that 25 students are admitted to the RTE quota and that only 50 students are admitted to the general quota. The government is not going to pay us for all 25 students on RTE now. Instead, they calculate 25% of the general admissions done (50) and only pay us for 12 or 13 students. That means no one is going to pay fees for the remaining students in the RTE quota, “Dayma said.
IESA has written to the Department of State Education, but no response has been received so far.
MESTA says the department of state education lacks the unsustainable financial situation of the budgetary colleges. MESTA founder-president Sanjay Tayde-Patil said that pending RTE payments and refusal of a general category of parents had put them in a tight spot. “How our schools will thrive if anything like this happens. The government must intervene immediately, and help out budget schools, “Tayde-Patil said.
Parents with fake RTE dismissal documents
By making it clear to the state government that parents who forge documents to secure free RTE admissions will face prosecution, some have discreetly begun withdrawal. The first to report that parents will have to give an undertaking to complete admission formalities that all documents are genuine, and otherwise they will face criminal charges.
Now local authorities are telling some parents to come forward and withdraw admissions and thus escape prosecution. Others, who have not come forward, may simply not show up for admissions that will eventually lead to cancellations.
