Funds allocation under RTE insufficient: Edu activists
Subsequently, the per child expenditure for students of Classes 1 to 5 has been increased to Rs 12,659 from 12,076. And for classes 6, 7, and 8 the amount has been increased to Rs 16,477 from 15,711.
School Education Department
CHENNAI: The fund allocation for per child expenditure under the Right to Education (RTE) Act is insufficient and is less compared to other welfare schemes given by the government, allege activists.
The School Education Department in the recent circular has released the funds for the next three academic years till 2025-26.
Though the amount saw a marginal increase from the previous academic year 2022-23, education activists and private school managements claim that the amount is sparse and it will be a challenge for schools to ensure quality education to these students.
According to the department, the per child expenditure for LKG and UKG students under the RTE seat has been retained at Rs 6,000 from the 2022 academic year to three consecutive academic years till 2025-26.
Subsequently, the per child expenditure for students of Classes 1 to 5 has been increased to Rs 12,659 from 12,076. And for classes 6, 7, and 8 the amount has been increased to Rs 16,477 from 15,711.
Commenting on this, KR Nandakumar, State secretary of Tamil Nadu Primary, Matriculation, Higher Secondary and CBSE school association said, "The marginal increase of Rs 583 for primary students and Rs 766 for middle school students is a negligible amount. This will not aid any financial support to the private schools, instead, create more challenges to cater to these students."
Nandakumar further added that the RTE fund allocation is lesser compared to other social welfare schemes for children. "When compared to schemes like Illam Thedi Kalvi, Ennum Ezhuthum, free school materials for children, breakfast scheme, and others, the allocation for RTE seems negligible, "he added.
Meanwhile, it is to be noted that a few years back the RTE amount was at Rs 12,458 for LKG, UKG, and Classes 1 to 5 for the academic year 2021-22. And for Classes 6, 7, and 8, the amount last academic year was at Rs 17,077.34, Rs 17,106.62, and Rs 17,027.35 respectively.
And, finally addressing the long-pending demand in March, the Tamil Nadu government released Rs 364 crore as reimbursement to private schools for admitting students under RTE.