NAGPUR: The decision to cut RTE reimbursements for schools by more than half was taken due to paucity of funds in state coffers, said school education minister Varsha Gaikwad. Maharashtra government had on Wednesday slashed reimbursements, for free RTE quota admissions, to Rs8,000 per child per year from earlier Rs17,670. Speaking exclusively to TOI, Gaikwad said, “Due to Covid-19, all financial resources have been prioritized to deal with the pandemic.” The minister, who herself is a qualified teacher, said she will push for extra fund allocation. “I will be taking up the issue with finance minister Jayant Patil to see how we can get extra funds for the department. It’s a tough situation and everyone’s trying their best,” said Gaikwad. Non-minority private schools have to provide free admissions to students selected by the state government under 25% RTE quota. In lieu of the free admissions, state reimburses them an amount that’s fixed in advance. RTE costs are borne by both the Centre (65%) and state (35%). But one can’t count on central government’s share, according to education officials. Dattatrey Jagtap, state education director who signed the reimbursement cut circular, said, “The central government share comes to us much later. First, we have to spend out of the state coffers. But this year, we had to resize our allocation to RTE reimbursements.” Schools, however, are unhappy saying this will have an impact on those 75% students who are paying full fees. RTE Foundation, an association of schools, feels the state government is ‘ignoring’ education. Sachin Kalbande, founder-president of the association, said, “Ever since RTE was implemented, reimbursements have been a point of friction because of the poor handling by successive state governments. Crores of rupees are pending with the government and it seems they keep coming up with innovative excuses to either delay or deny payments. The central government gives them Rs28,000 per year per child, but Maharashtra has been paying us far less than that.” Kalbande added that for academic year 2021-22, they have decided not to entertain new RTE admissions. “Enough time has been given to the education department to resolve RTE payment issues. But it’s clear that they want to drag this thing out, hence we have decided to not process any RTE admission this year,” said Kalbande. Independent English Schools Association president Rajendra Dayma said the members will now approach the courts. “This decision will destroy schools financially. As it is, we are facing fee recovery issue from the 75% general quota students. Now, the RTE quota student fee has been halved so there is no way for us to pay teachers or meet administrative expenses. We will move the courts soon against this decision of the government,” said Dayma.