Private schools that are within a vicinity of 1km from government or aided schools will not be obliged to take students under the RTE quota in Maharashtra.

The revised set of guidelines released by the state government state that such private students will be exempted from admitting students from the economically weaker sections under the Right to Education (RTE) quota.

Previously, it was mandated that all private schools must reserve 25 % of their seats between nursery and class I for those eligible under the RTE quota which ensures free and compulsory right to education to children of age group 6 to 14 years.

This has been effective since the state government passed a notification on February 9 stating, “Provided that the local authority shall not identify the private unaided school, for the purposes of 25 per cent admission of disadvantaged group and weaker section under the Maharashtra Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2013, where government schools and aided schools are situated within one-km radius of that school.”

Across the country, several state governments have made similar amendments to the original RTE norms to accommodate more students into government schools.

An official with the education department said that this move was to encourage admissions into government schools. “Firstly, when students take admission into private schools, even though there is a government school in the vicinity, there is an additional expenditure. This will also encourage more students to seek admission into government schools,” she said.

Private schools, who have been complaining of a Rs 2,000 crore outstanding from the state towards reimbursements welcomed the move.

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