Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde said that schools not following the provisions of the Right to Education Act could lose their registration.
He was responding to a calling attention motion raised in the Assembly by the Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and other legislators. Patil alleged that several schools were violating the RTE Act by not admitting students from the economically weaker sections of society.
“If a school does not admit a student, then it will lose its registration. Under any circumstance, a school cannot deny admission to a needy student,” Tawde said.
Vikhe Patil also wanted to know if schools, which were following the RTE Act, had been given mandatory funds by the state government. The Congress leader claimed that several schools, which had not been provided these funds, were planning to not admit students from the next academic year.
Replying to it, Tawde said, “The state government has already made available Rs 154.20 crore to pay these schools. The remaining Rs 148 crore will be allocated in the current budget session.”
The minister, taunting the opposition, said that the previous Congress-NCP government had not paid these schools for three years and it was the BJP government which, after coming to power in November 2014, settled the dues by December that year.
“You should know your history,” Tawde told the opposition.
Tawde added that some schools had a few seats vacant as parents were not keen to admit their children in these schools despite the children being eligible for admission there under the RTE Act.