The Maharashtra English School Trustees Association (MESTA) has decided to boycott the ongoing admission process under Right to Education (RTE) Act over pending dues. The association has stated that admissions to private English medium schools would be resumed only after last year’s dues are cleared by the State government.
Due to MESTA boycott, only 583 children have been admitted so far under the RTE in first round as against 5701 allocated seats. The admission process would conclude on April 26. If boycott of MESTA continues, then the remaining children would find it difficult to get admission to private English medium schools in the city.
Secretary Kapil Umale said that a total amount of `24 crores is yet to be paid to private schools who gave admission to students under RTE.
Maharashtra’s School Education department declared to release pending dues to be distributed to schools doing 25 per cent admissions under Right To Education Act (RTE). However, the declaration is vague as it has not specified the time period within which the amount is to be distributed.
Umale said, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad had ordered the payment of the outstanding amount while validating the demand of MESTA. Regardless, its primary education officer is not ready to pay the amount. This forced MESTA to boycott the admission process.
It is notable that under the RTE, there are 7243 seats in 675 schools in the district. Most seats are English medium schools.
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