Petition on RTE fee reimbursement: Govt told to file objections

The High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to file additional objections to the amended petition filed by Associated Managements of Government Recognised English Medium Schools in Karnataka (KAMS), which has challenged the notification dated February 8.

The petitioner has contended that as per the notification, the government has chosen not to revise the fee reimbursement for the 25 per cent students who are given seats in private unaided non-minority schools under RTE. The petitioner said that the government had fixed the fees at Rs 5,924 per month for pre-primary classes and Rs 11,848 per month for class I.

The petitioner has submitted that members of the association are budget schools dependent on the fees collected from the remaining 75 per cent students and are finding it difficult to run the institutions. The government does not have LKG and UKG (pre-primary) classes and fixing the reimbursement for LKG and UKG is not in conformity with the Central Right to Education Act 2009 and Rules, the petition said.

The petitioner contended that their schools were finding it difficult to maintain the past years’ accounts and conduct an audit as it is a financial burden for the schools. Further, the government implemented a new pay scale in 2012 for the staff of government and aided institutions.

The petitioner’s advocate, G R Mohan, argued that the government was using different yardsticks while dealing with aided and unaided schools.

The petitioner has sought directions to quash the notification and to revise the reimbursement fixed during 2012 without insisting upon audited statement of accounts or recurring expenses and to increase the per child reimbursement to Rs 15,698 from Rs 11,848. Justice A S Bopanna directed the government to file objections and adjourned the hearing.