No RTE payments for pre-primary: MHRD

gpur: Schools in the state were giving admissions under the Right To Education (RTE) Act quota at pre-primary level in the hope that state may be able to get some reimbursements from union government. But according to the reply given under Right To Information (RTI) by union HRD ministry, it has become absolutely clear that reimbursements will be given only for Std I — VIII.

Since Maharashtra government, reeling under a cash crunch, is clearly incapable of footing the bill alone, schools now question the authority of the government to enforce admissions in nursery/KG sections.

A RTI query to the Department of School Education and Literacy (HRD ministry) asked whether state government can force schools to give RTE admissions in nursery/KG sections, to which the ministry replied that state government was free to take that decision.

The other question was that if the state forces schools to give admission, will union government share the fee reimbursement bill. For this, the ministry stated, 'reimbursement will be based on per child norms notified by the states/UT concerned for class I to VIII.'

The ministry further said that the reimbursement funding is "subject to a maximum ceiling of 20% of the total annual work plan and budget approved by the Government of India for a state/UT under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme. The SSA funds important schemes like RTE, midday meals etc. This RTI answer has sealed the fate for all pre-primary admissions done so far, as far as fee reimbursement is concerned.

A senior education official from state said that the clause of 'entry point' is the reason that admissions are being taken in pre-primary section too. "The rule says that admission has to be given at entry point of school. Almost all schools have a pre-primary section and the students naturally carry on to its Std I. So, we, as the implementing authority have no other option than to mandate schools to give admissions in pre-primary section as well," said the official.

The official also said that there was no chance of the state footing RTE bills on its own for the pre-primary section. With RTE payments getting delayed even of the regular Std I-VIII admissions, schools are understandably miffed.

This is the first time schools, individually, have started taking a tough stance with plans of boycotting the admission process. No big school association with a considerable presence in Nagpur city has taken that stand yet, but that does seem to be a part of the larger game plan. A school trustee said, "There's an old saying that only when you press the nose will the mouth open. We have to boycott admissions, even if for a small period of time, to get the message across."

Curtsy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/No-RTE-payments-for-pre-primary-MHRD/articleshow/51282652.cms