OPS: Withdraw GO on fund reduction for RTE admissions

CHENNAI: Former chief minister and ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam on Saturday charged the DMK government for reducing the funds for Rights To Education (RTE) admissions in private schools and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the official order in this regard.

In a statement here, Pannerselvam said that during the last two years, the DMK government has reduced the funds’ allocation drastically for RTE admissions.“For example in 2020-2021, the amount was Rs 12,458 for each child, who sought admission under RTE for studying LKG and UKG,” he said claiming “as soon as DMK came to power, the amount was reduced by 6,000 for this category.”

Panneerselvam said similarly, though in 2022-2023, the funds were slightly increased for students studying from Class I to Class IV, who was admitted under RTE, it was less compared to the funds’ allocation for the students studying from Class V to Class VIII. “It was unfair to reduce the funds for RTE admissions since the private schools, which were economically affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation,” he said adding “private schools were complaining that releasing the funds for RTE admission was delayed besides claiming that certain institutions did not receive the amount”.

Panneerselvam also claimed that since the funds were reduced by the government for RTE admissions, the private schools were forced to collect the remaining amount from the parents from economic backgrounds, who seek admissions for their children under RTE. “Therefore, considering the welfare of the poor people, the government should immediately withdraw its order to reduce the funds for RTE admissions,” he said.