Page 46 - EducationWorld October 2020

Cover Story

Defaulting state governments Tamil Nadu Private Schools Associa-
tion.
nder s.12 (1) (c) of the Right of It’s hardly a secret that within gov-
UChildren to Free and Com- ernment, left-liberal dominated acad-
pulsory Education (aka RTE) Act, emy and establishment there’s deep
2009, private schools are mandated and pervasive prejudice and antago-
to allocate 25 percent capacity in nism against private schools stretch-
classes I-VIII to poor children in their ing back to the 1950s, when newly
neighbourhood. To compensate independent India adopted the inor-
private schools for providing free-of- ganic socialist economic development
charge education to poor children, model. Since then, the Supreme Court
s.12 (2) of the Act directs (state) has routinely condemned “commer-
governments to pay private schools cialisation of education” unmindful
the equivalent of per-child expense of the reality that private school edu-
incurred by government in its own cation in India is the cheapest — in all
schools. segments — worldwide. Nevertheless,
However, perennially cash- Ahmad: vested interest charge there’s been continuous exodus of
strapped state governments have students from government to private,
routinely reneged their obligation to schools to private schools that have especially budget private schools — a
make timely payments under s.12 (2) admitted poor children. Across the sore point for the Central and state
to private school managements. The country, private school associations governments.
amounts owed to private schools by claim that arrears of reimbursement Therefore, the novel Coronavirus
major state governments under s.12 for admitting poor children under pandemic has come as a golden op-
(2) are set out below. s.12 (1) (c) have piled up to “lakhs of portunity to deliver a hammer blow
(Rs. crore) crores”, which if paid would mitigate to private education. “The govern-
Bihar 15 the financial stress of private schools ment has a vested interest in shutting
Karnataka 1,090 struggling to remain afloat following down budget private schools. If BPS
Maharashtra 700 forced closure of all education insti- close down, students from the lower
Rajasthan 350 tutions during the Covid-19 pandemic middle class will have no option but
Delhi 67 (see box). to reverse migrate to government
Madhya Pradesh 36 schools. That’s why the government is
Uttarakhand 2.7 OR INSTANCE IN TAMIL refusing to provide economic support
Tamil Nadu 510 F Nadu, the state’s private to private school managements and/
Uttar Pradesh 30 schools are owed over or pay RTE reimbursements rightfully
Source: EW compilation Rs.500 crore by way of s.12 due to them,” says Syed Shamael
(2) reimbursement. “Private schools Ahmad, Patna-based president of the
especially budget private schools, Private Schools and Children Welfare
ademic year 2020-21. This campaign are facing an existential crisis with Association, which has 25,000 private
and petitions have also elicited no re- fees revenue drying up. Many are — including budget private schools —
sponse from the Centre. not able to pay even 25 percent of as members.
Government prejudice and apa- teachers’ salaries. We presented sev- Moreover, to compound the agony
thy towards private schools is also eral petitions to the state government of children being forced to attend
highlighted by the sustained neglect to release pending reimbursement dysfunctional government schools
of state governments to reimburse amounts urgently required by private infamous for chronic teacher truancy,
private schools for admitting poor school managements to meet opera- abysmal learning outcomes and Eng-
children under s.12 (1) (c) of the RTE tional expenses including teacher and lish language aversion, Central and
Act, 2009. Under this section private staff salaries. But there is no response. state governments are simultaneously
schools are obliged to reserve 25 per- Only after the Madras high court gave choking the flow of private investment
cent capacity in classes I-VIII for poor an order directing the government to in education through burdensome,
children in their neighbourhood. To release RTE reimbursements, it re- complicated laws, rules and regula-
partly subsidise private schools the leased Rs.303.70 crore for the year tions. Demands for deregulation and
cost of educating poor neighbour- 2018-2019. However, for 2019-2020, liberalisation of Indian education have
hood children, s.12 (2) mandates the amount of Rs.510 crore is still fallen on deaf ears with successive
reimbursement of the amount spent pending,” says advocate M.J. John governments denouncing “commer-
by state governments in their own Arokia Prabhu, vice president of the cialisation of education” as a deadly

46 EDUCATIONWORLD OCTOBER 2020