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doesn’t have the money to reimburse private schools the THEY SAID IT
amounts it is obliged to pay under s.12 (2) of the RTE
Act toward education of children admitted. In turn, this “Mother tongue… the term snacks of some
is because a sum of Rs.2,150 crore is owing to it from kind of purity test. Bureaucrats ask for it in
the Centre under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS).
Launched in 2018, SSS incorporates the previously forms, ministers extol its virtues. It’s really
launched Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA, primary complex-ridden linguistic gatekeeping
education development) and the Rashtriya Madhyamik disguised as heritage preservation. Retire
Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA, secondary education develop- the phrase, not because it’s silly because
ment) programmes and teacher education initiatives, it’s inaccurate. Call it ‘comfort language(s)’
to upgrade pre-primary to higher secondary schooling instead.”
countrywide. Editorial titled ‘Don’t bother with mother tongues’ (The
The DMK government claims that the BJP/NDA Economic Times, June 28)
government at the Centre has withheld payment of
this sum because the TN government has rejected the
Centre’s NEP 2020 and specifically rejected the Centre’s “This chaos is a blow to the aspirations
notification issued in May, under which all children in of millions of Indian families who make
primary classes should learn three languages, including considerable financial sacrifices for private
Hindi.. CBSE schools. A robust English-medium
owever, even as TN’s DMK government has education to them is not a luxury but an
Hpetitioned the Supreme Court to order release of essential tool for their children to get ahead,
the Rs.2,150 crore owing to it under SSS, it has been excel in national exams, and compete in a
consistently laggard in reimbursing private schools, gloaslised world.”
which have admitted children from EWS households Ra Shhiva, advocate and founder of Citizens for Law
under s.12 (1) (c). The sum due has aggregated to over and Democracy, on the Central government’s circular
Rs.1,000 crore. directing all states to deliver primary education in
According to M.J. pupils’ mother tongues (The Times of India, July 1)
John Arokia Prab-
hu, vice president of
the Tamil Nadu Private “Eight years on, the Modi government’s
Schools Association, GST is not a tax reform – it’s a brutal tool of
the state government economic injustice and corporate cronyism.
has paid Rs.400 crore It was designed to punish the poor, crush
for the year 2021-22. MSMEs, undermine states, and benefit a few
“Since then, Rs.417 billionaire friends of the Prime Minister.”
crore owing for 2022- Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha,
23 and Rs.627 crore for on the eighth anniversary of the introduction of the
2023-24 are pending. Goods and Services Tax (GST) on X (July 1)
And the amount for John Arokia Prabhu
the current year hasn’t
even been calculated “While Indian women now outpace many
yet. Right now, there are 9.5 lakh EWS students in global peers in education, comprising
private schools admitted under s.12 (1) (c). The gov- over 45 percent of undergraduates, their
ernment’s RTE admissions portal is down because the participation in the labour force, especially in
state does not want to promote the scheme — it wants urban areas, remains alarmingly low at just
to boost enrolments into its government schools,” says 28 percent, half of the remaining G20 average
Prabhu. that exceeds 56 percent... Investing in
Tamil Nadu’s 2025-26 budget for education is
Rs.55,261 crore. Therefore to argue that it cannot pay FLPRs will transform the living standards of
private schools arrears aggregating Rs.1,000 crore for families and raise GDP to even higher levels,
s.12 (1) (c) admissions is an unconvincing excuse. Quite paving the way for changing patriarchal
obviously the dispute between the Centre and state over norms and mindsets as it benefits everyone.”
SSS dues has provided the DMK government a handy Ratna Sahay & Akash Dev of NCAER, Delhi on how India
opportunity to boost admissions into public schools. can increase its FLPR — female labour participation
Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai) rate (Times of India, July 7)

JULY 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 23