In a significant development with regard to the implementation of 25 per cent quota for poor students in private schools under the Right to Education Act, the state government has decided to finalise the modalities by May 15.
Under the scheme, it will become mandatory for all private un-aided and aided schools across the state to allot 25 per cent of their seats in Class-I to children of weaker sections. The RTE quota will come into force from the academic year 2012-13, starting June. The government on Tuesday constituted a eight-member committee to finalise the modalities for implementing the RTE quota in private schools as directed by the Supreme Court. Chandana Khan, special chief secretary, primary education, issued orders to this effect. The commissioner and director of school education will be the chairman of the eight-member committee. The seven other members include K. Anand Kishore (consultant, TET), the director of SCERT, the joint director of elementary education, the RJDSE-Hyderabad, the DEO-Karimnagar, and the mandal education officer (Farroqnagar, Mahabubnagar), while the state project director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will be the convenor. The committee will identify the private schools to implement the RTE quota by May 15.
The committee will devise a “monitoring mechanism” for the effective implementation of RTE quota in private schools. However, with most prominent schools in the state, especially in major cities like Hyderabad, having closed admissions for the new academic year 2012-13, it remains to be seen how the government will implement the RTE quota.
The fee to be reimbursed by the government to private schools for giving admissions under the RTE has become an issue. The government will reimburse an amount up to Rs 8,000 per annum, while the fee structure in private schools varies from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per annum. In elite schools, which offer CBSE, ICSE, IB and international curriculum, the fee ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 8 lakh for Class-I.