They said the schools would now be forced to increase fee for other students. SAC is also bringing together school associations from different states to debate on the issue of autonomy in a convention on Friday.
"Providing free education should not be the responsibility of the private sector. As we do not want to stall the admission process, we have accepted the EWS reservation. But we protest. There is a possibility of fee hike though we cannot say how much. There are 1,950 recognized private unaided schools in the city and it’s the prerogative of the management committee at each school to decide the quantum of hike," said S K Bhattacharya, president, SAC on Thursday. He added they had already challenged the provisions of RTE in the Supreme Court for which a hearing is likely to come up on January 7.
SAC has the National Progressive Schools’ Conference, Federation of Schools, Forum of Public Schools and Delhi State Public School Management as its constituents. According to schools, they are likely to spend anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,500 for every child admitted under the EWS quota in nursery though the government may reimburse up to Rs 1,200. But the govt funds will only be given for 10% EWS students. For the rest, schools will have to spend from their own coffers.
Bhattacharya added, "Government should give 100% reimbursement for the fee directly to the parents, may be in the form of vouchers. Though no official guidelines have been issued yet on how the EWS fee will be reimbursed, government says it will pay us the amount equal to what it spends on each child in its own schools."
SAC also contended that RTE may lead to shutting down of unrecognized schools, making education inaccessible in many neighbourhoods. "The government should first provide infrastructure, appoint teachers and make schools ready for RTE. If the unrecognized schools are not recognized within three years, they will have to be shut down under RTE," said R C Jain, chairperson of a body representing unrecognized schools in the city.