Chennai: Reverse migration to government schools triggered by the second Covid-19 wave impact has reduced revenue under the rights to education (RTE) acting in private schools in Tamil Nadu by last year.
When RTE’s receipt ended on August 24, only 50,100 students received under the quota.
This is 20,200 less than last year.
With 3,520 students, the Madurai district recorded the highest number of RTE reception.
It was followed by Tiruvallur with 3,290 reception and Chennai 2,750 reception.
According to the RTE Law, private schools must order 25% of their seats at the entry level for children from economically and socially disadvantaged parts.
About 1.03,330 seats in LKG and my class are available at 8,300 private schools for 2021-22.
“The number of applications itself has fallen.
In 2020-2021 academic year, 1.25 lakh applications were accepted.
This year has dropped to 82,500,” said an official of the school education department.
“After supervision, only 78,000 applicants who qualified,” said an official of the school education department.
Of the 1.25 lakh applicants, 70,300 received under last year’s quota.
A system was widely used on August 19 to recognize students under quota and children being asked to join school on or before August 24.
“Even though the state government has changed tuition fees for students who are recognized under RTE, parents still need to pay for notebooks, uniforms and transportation, among others.
With loss of livelihoods, parents cannot pay these costs and prefer government schools, “Said S Arumainathan, President of the State, Tamil Nadu Students of Parental Welfare Association.
“Many parents recognize their wards in private schools for social status.
Now, with losing livelihoods, they are satisfied with the government school,” he added.
Also, government school children are offered 14 welfare schemes including free notebooks, school bags, footwear and textbooks.
K R Nandakumar, Secretary General, the Action Committee along with the Private School Association, also quoted a Pandemic Covid-19 as the main reason for the decline in RTE.
“The government has also announced reservations for government school students in medical, engineering, legal and professional courses.
This is also one reason for the decline in interest among parents to register their environment in private schools,” he added.