The Education Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Wednesday called principals of 20 unaided schools to discuss complaints of them levying fees from students admitted through the Right to Education (RTE) Act for uniforms, books and notebooks. Whether unaided schools should provide free books, notebooks and uniforms to students admitted through the RTE has been the bone of contention between schools and parents. The Act states “no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education.” An official from the Education Department of the BMC said that in 2014, the Director of Education had issued a circular asking schools not to charge any fee from RTE students, including that for uniforms and notebooks. [related-post] Watch Video: What's making news “However, we have received complaints from parents that the schools were charging them for uniforms and notebooks,” said the official who did not wish to be named. The principals said there was no clarity on the matter. “The Act and the circular do not say that the school has to provide uniforms, books and notebooks for free,” said the principal of a school, who did not wish to be named. Schools are only reimbursed for the tuition fee. “The BMC has been handing over the circulars to the parents instead of giving them to us directly. This has led to a lot of miscommunication.” According to the BMC official, unaided schools are finding it difficult to manage RTE students with their own funds. “Principals said that even for a school trip, they had to pay for the RTE students. They cannot differentiate between RTE and non-RTE students but find it difficult to manage with their own funds,” said the official. The principal said the BMC has asked unaided non-Marathi schools to write an application together to the civic body. “We will hear these problems on Thursday,” said Prakash Charhate, deputy education officer.
