GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1602

TO BE ANSWERED ON 5TH MARCH, 2018

Students Studying under RTE

1602. DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the total number of students studying in schools under Section12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act, 2009 for the last three years, State-wise;

(b) the details of the number of new admissions under Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act, 2009 for the past three years, State-wise;

(c) whether the States have reimbursed schools fee/expenditure for the costs incurred to implement Section 12(1)(c);

(d) if so, the details thereof for the last three years and if not, the reasons therefor, State-wise and year-wise;

(e) whether there are any pending proposals for fee reimbursement as stipulated under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 2009 with the Union Government; and

(f) if so, the details thereof, State-wise and if not, the reasons therefor?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

(SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a): State-wise details of children studying in schools under Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 during the last

three years are at Annexure-I.

(b): Details of new admissions made under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act are not maintained Centrally.

(c) to (d): Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) norms provide for States/UTs to reimburse to the private unaided schools for admission under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act,

2009 according to the per child cost notified by the respective State/UT. Thereafter, the expenditure incurred by the State/UT is supported under SSA for Classes I to VIII

subject to a limit of 20% of the overall SSA budget approved for the respectively

State/UT.

13 States have submitted claims in their Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B)2015-16 and 2016-17 for children admitted under Section 12(1)(c) during academic

session 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. In the AWP&B, 2017-18, 15 States have submitted claims for children admitted under Section 12(1)(c) during academic

session 2016-17. Funds were approved under SSA for 7 States during 2015-16, 10 States during 2016- 17 and 6 States during 2017-18 as per SSA norms. State-wise

details are at Annexure-II.

(e) & (f): There are no pending proposals for fee reimbursement as stipulated underSection 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act, 2009 with the Central Government.

******

Annexure-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) OF LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1602, ASKED BY DR. SHASHI THAROOR, TO BE

ANSWERED ON 05.03.2018 REGARDING “STUDENTS STUDYING UNDER RTE”

State-wise details of children studying in private unaided schools under Section 12(1)(c) of

the RTE Act, 2009 during last three years

Sl.

Source: AWP&B, SSA

Annexure-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) to (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1602, ASKED BY DR. SHASHI

THAROOR, TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.03.2018 REGARDING “STUDENTS STUDYING UNDER RTE”

Details of proposals received from State Governments and approvals against reimbursement to Private Schools for the last three years under SSA

(? in lakh)

Source: AWP&B Minutes, SSA

Relevance

As per Section 12 (1) (c) of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009, the non-minority private unaided schools are mandated to reserve 25% of their entry level seats for children belonging to the disadvantaged and weaker communities, and to provide them free education till the completion of class 8th. The RTE Act states that schools admitting children under this provision “shall be reimbursed expenditure so incurred by it to the extent of per-child-expenditure incurred by the State, or the actual amount charged from the child, whichever is less, in such manner as may be prescribed.

However, multiple news articles report the struggle states like Odisha, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh among many others are facing either because of paucity of funds from the centre for RTE and from state to private unaided schools or due to no means to track the flow of these funds. Several states have not even notified their per child costs as mandated by the Act. This lack of funds are cited by private schools to deny admissions to children thereby denying lakhs of children their right to quality education mandated by law.