It seems that the state government is trying to exclude reputed and posh schools which offer international, CBSE and ICSE syllabus from the purview of the RTE Act on the pretext that many of them are located on the city’s outskirts and suburbs and are not in neighbourhoods where people fr-om deprived sections stay.
The panel appointed by the state to finalise the no-rms for implementing the Act and to identify “neighbourhood schools” for the purpose may exempt the elite schools from setting aside 25 per cent seats for the poor under the Act. The report is expected to be submitted to the government any time next week. The panel was constituted in May after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of 25 per cent quota for the poor in private schools in April this year.
However, the state will make an announcement on implementing the Act and release the list of schools to come under the purview of Act only after the June 12 bypolls due to the “model code of conduct”.
Questions raised on poor not staying near elite schools
Ms Chandana Khan, special chief secretary to government, primary education said, “The committee (appointed by the state to finalise the norms for implementing the RTE Act and to identify ‘neighbourhood schools’) is expected to submit its report soon. We cannot disclose any details about the RTE quota at this stage in view of the model code of conduct for the bypolls.”
The heavy fee structure in these schools, which the government cannot reimburse, is also said to be one of the reasons for excluding them from the RTE list. While the fee structure in international schools varies from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum, the fee in posh CBSE and ICSE schools is in a range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. The fee in schools affiliated to the state board and middle-rung schools affiliated to other boards is in the range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per annum.
Sources said that the government is willing to reimburse fee of only Rs 500 per month and prefers lower-rung schools located near slums for the poor students. They said that the committee has identified only 8,000 out of the total registered 23,000 private schools in the state and these are all affiliated to the state board.
The committee has put the responsibility of implementing 25 per cent quota in these 8,000 schools to the respective district collectors, who will issue the list of schools. If the applications received for any particular school are more than the 25 per cent quota, the district administration will conduct a draw of lots to select the students.
The committee opines that since the government has full control over schools affiliated to the state board, it can effectively implement the RTE quota in these schools, while it has no role to play in international, CBSE and ICSE schools.
Meanwhile, questions are being raised over the committee’s stance that poor people do not reside near posh schools located on the city’s outskirts and suburbs as there are several slums surrounding Gachibowli, Madhapur, Nacharam, Banj-ara Hills, Jubilee Hills etc.