Parents in Andhra Pradesh face heartbreak as private schools deny RTE admissions, citing pending government reimbursements. Thousands of children affected.
For many low-income families in Andhra Pradesh, what began as a hopeful opportunity for free, quality education for their children has turned into confusion, frustration, and financial strain. Despite being selected under the Right to Education (RTE) Act’s 25% quota in private schools, several students have been denied admission or asked to pay partial fees, with schools citing long-pending reimbursement dues from the government.
Kottupalli Anand, a daily wage earner from Reddypalem in Guntur district, was elated when he received a message from the School Education Department informing him that his five-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Dhianshi, had secured admission in a well-known private school under the RTE Act’s Section 12(1)(C). The section mandates that private unaided schools reserve 25% of entry-level seats for children from economically weaker sections (EWS), with the state government reimbursing the fees.
But Anand’s joy was short-lived. When he went to complete the admission process, the school management flatly refused, citing that they hadn’t received any fee reimbursements from the government for the past three years. With mounting operational costs, they claimed they couldn’t afford to admit new students under the RTE quota.
Determined to fight for his daughter’s right to education, Anand approached the Mandal Education Officer (MEO). The officer intervened, and the school agreed to admit Dhianshi—but only after Anand paid ₹15,000 for books and uniforms, plus an additional ₹10,000 for extracurriculars.
“I was thrilled when we got the message. We even stopped applying for the ‘Thalli ki Vandanam’ scheme because we believed our daughter would now get a free, quality education,” said Anand. “Now we’re left scrambling to arrange money we don’t have.”
Anand’s story is not unique. In nearby Gollapudi in NTR district, Baburao Mandala, the father of six-year-old Varshita Vinanya, is facing a similar crisis. Varshita was allotted a seat in a reputed school under the RTE quota, but along with six other families, was turned away. The school claimed that discussions with the government were still ongoing and asked them to wait.
“It’s been over two weeks since schools reopened on June 12. We’ve been making endless rounds, trying to secure the seat promised to us,” said Baburao. “Many parents like me are now considering pulling out of the scheme altogether and shifting our children to smaller, more affordable schools.”
The additional sting for parents like Baburao is that they opted out of the ‘Thalli ki Vandanam’ scheme—a government financial aid program for school-going children—assuming their children’s admission under the RTE quota was secure. Now they find themselves caught in the middle, with no support from either end.
What’s Holding Things Up?
Private school associations say they are not against the RTE quota in principle. However, they argue that the implementation of the policy has been lopsided. While Section 12(1)(C) of the Act is being enforced, they claim the government has failed to properly implement Section 12(2), which requires it to reimburse the schools based on either the actual fee or the state’s per-child expenditure (PCE), whichever is lower.
“The PCE determined by the government is unrealistically low and doesn’t even come close to what we spend on each child,” said a representative of a private school association. “We’re not against taking in EWS students—but the government must meet us halfway and honor its financial commitments.”
School managements have also raised concerns about irregularities in the admission process—ranging from falsified documents and multiple applications to violations of the “Neighbourhood Rule,” which requires children to be allotted to the nearest available schools first.
Government Response
Meanwhile, officials from Samagra Shiksha—the nodal agency managing the RTE admission process—have acknowledged the concerns but remain firm on enforcement. “This year, we expect RTE admissions to cross 20,000,” said B. Srinivasa Rao, State Project Director. “We’ve already issued show-cause notices to schools that are not cooperating and directed education officers to confirm all admissions by June 29.”
While the government insists on compliance, the stalemate continues to leave thousands of families in limbo—families who believed that, at last, education would be a right, not a privilege.
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