RAIPUR: A high-stakes standoff over school admissions is unfolding in Chhattisgarh, with the state govt warning private schools of derecognition for denying 25% RTE quota seats, even as institutions threaten to boycott admissions citing a 14-year freeze in reimbursement.
Chhattisgarh govt on Monday issued a stern warning to private schools, saying any institution refusing admission under the Right to Education (RTE) quota could face strict action, including cancellation of recognition, escalating an already tense standoff over reimbursement and compliance.
Private school operators, however, pushed back sharply, calling the warning coercive and arguing that the reimbursement has remained frozen for 14 years even as costs have risen substantially.
In a statement, the state said the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act has been in force in Chhattisgarh since April 2010 and mandates that 25% seats in entry-level classes of unaided private schools be reserved for children from economically weaker sections, disadvantaged groups and deprived communities living in the neighbourhood.
The govt said recognition granted to private schools is subject to compliance with RTE provisions, and any refusal to admit eligible children or obstruction of the process would invite disciplinary action.
The warning comes at a time when the RTE regime in the state is already under judicial scrutiny. In a recent report, Chhattisgarh high court flagged delays under RTE implementation that could affect admissions of poor and needy students and sought explanations from the school education department on complaints handling and on the reported fall in reserved seats.
Govt sources maintained that private schools are reimbursed under the Act on the basis of per-child expenditure in govt schools or the actual school fee, whichever is lower.
According to the state’s statement, Chhattisgarh has kept reimbursement at Rs 7,000 annually for Classes I to V and Rs 11,400 for Classes VI to VIII since 2011-12. The govt also said these rates compare favourably with some neighbouring states such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, though some others pay more.
It added that around 3.63 lakh students are currently studying under the RTE quota in 6,862 private schools across the state, and that the admission process for about 22,000 Class I seats is underway for the new session.
The state RTE portal also shows 6,938 schools and 3,63,256 students under the scheme, underlining the scale of the programme in Chhattisgarh.
State's private schools association said its ongoing non-cooperation agitation, launched in March, would continue unless the per-child amount is revised. It questioned how the same Rs 7,000 fixed more than a decade ago could still reflect present-day expenditure, and argued, if the state claims the amount is adequate, it should publicly justify that position with current cost calculations.
Association president Rajeev Gupta said they had already announced that students selected through the RTE lottery would not be given admission as part of the protest over unchanged reimbursement.
The remark is likely to sharpen the confrontation further, especially as the state has now publicly invoked derecognition as a possible consequence of non-compliance.
The broader dispute goes beyond reimbursement alone.
For now, the govt has appealed to parents not to be misled by what it called misinformation and to rely on official facts. But with admissions underway, private schools in open protest, and the high court already tracking delays and complaints, the RTE admission season in Chhattisgarh appears headed for a legal and administrative showdown.
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