Fourth year of decline: Maharashtra sees steady drop in private unaided schools offering 25% EWS quota

Private unaided schools across Maharashtra have been resisting RTE admissions due to a delay in fee reimbursement by the government. Associations of the managements of private schools participating in RTE admissions have claimed that the pending reimbursements have crossed Rs 2,000 crore cumulatively.

Private unaided schools across Maharashtra have been resisting RTE admissions due to a delay in fee reimbursement by the government. Associations of the managements of private schools participating in RTE admissions have claimed that the pending reimbursements have crossed Rs 2,000 crore cumulatively.

“Schools have no objection to RTE admissions as long as the government complies with timely reimbursement of fees. But this delay is unacceptable. How can schools manage smooth functioning without the financial support that the government is expected to provide?” Bharat Malik, state representative of the National Independent Schools Alliance, an association of private unaided schools participating in RTE admissions, said.

“Every now and then, a small amount is disbursed, which is nothing close to the actual reimbursement amount. Eventually, schools end up increasing fees for regular students, which means those parents have to bear the cost,” he explained.

The government has fixed Rs 17,600 as the cost per student per year. According to school management authorities, this is less. “The government spends much more per student in their own schools,” said Malik.

Online admission process begins

The online application process for RTE admissions began in Maharashtra on Tuesday, February 17, with the Directorate of Education (Primary) disclosing the number of seats available across schools in the state.

Applicants can visit the official website–https://student.maharashtra.gov.in/adm_portal/Users/rte_index_new—for information on available seats, and apply for admission.

The state has also arranged for help centres to assist parents who face difficulties in the online application process. Details of the help centres are also available on the official website.

This year, the Maharashtra school education department has introduced two major modifications to the RTE admissions process: reduced distance criterion for school selection and mandatory online document submission while applying for admissions.

While applicants still have to select 10 schools at the time of application, under the new rule, the choices are limited to schools that fall within a 1 km radius of the student’s registered residential address. Additionally, applicants are required to upload all necessary documents at the time of online application, instead of the older practice of submitting documents at the time of admission.

Parents have welcomed the provision to upload all documents at the beginning of the process, saying they believe it will reduce confusion at the time of admission, as schools have often denied admission, citing issues with documents. But the reduced distance criterion, parents said, has resulted in a limited pool of schools. It is also against the original provision of allowing parents to select schools within a 3 km radius of their residence.

“The reduced pool will now make it difficult to select 10 schools to be filled in the application form,” said a parent, adding that the state has not clarified about cases where there may be no school within a 1 km radius. “Earlier, the system allotted a school within a 3 km radius if there was no school in a 1 km radius,” added the parent.

Academic year—No. of schools—Seats

2022-23—9,086 —1,01,906

2023-24—9,217—1,05,238

2024-25—9,138—1,02,434

2025-26—8,863—1,09,134

2026-27—8,651—1,12,772