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The ongoing standoff between the Tamil Nadu and Union government regarding the release of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) funds has led to the closure of admissions under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act in private schools. Citing a lack of funds, the state government has closed the online admissions portal.
The RTE Act allows for a 25% reservation for private, unaided schools for children from marginalised, economically vulnerable communities. The Union government’s share in the funds required to implement this RTE provision comes through the SSA scheme. The Union government has refused to release the SSA funds due to Tamil Nadu—a substantial Rs 2,151.59 crore—unless the state implements the controversial National Education Policy (NEP). The NEP’s three-language dictate has long been seen in Tamil Nadu as an indirect means of Hindi imposition.
In turn, the state government claims that due to the withheld funds, they cannot proceed with RTE admissions. The admission portal for the 2025-26 academic year has been closed.
The pause in RTE admissions is causing an immense financial burden to students from poor families. There has now been more than a month’s delay in opening the online portal. With no clarity on when the portal will open, many families have been forced to pay school fees out of pocket. Others remain in limbo, hoping the matter will be resolved soon, as schools reopened on June 2.
One parent TNM spoke to said that while his daughter’s school has agreed to wait for the funds for the 2025-26 academic year, he has been warned that the child would be forced to discontinue in the next academic year if the fees are not reimbursed through the RTE funds or if he does not pay out of pocket.
Emphasising the immense importance of the Act, a petitioner who approached the Madras High Court to open the RTE portal told TNM, “Before 2009, the responsibility of providing private school education fell solely on parents. The RTE Act made it a responsibility of the state, irrespective of how expensive the school is.”
Students and parents pay the price
With no clarity on when the RTE portal will open in Tamil Nadu, many parents have now been told to pay the fees out of pocket if the state’s funds do not come through. Parents who can find funds pay. Those who cannot say that they will shift their children to government schools.
One such parent is Kaliyappan, who works in the administrative wing of a private college. His daughter studies at St Joseph’s School in Vellore. “We have paid the annual fee of Rs 21,000. The school told us that they would return the money if the RTE funds come through. I draw a salary of Rs 12,000 a month. For now, I’ve paid the fees from my savings,” he told TNM.
Another parent, Selvamani, wanted to enrol his son in a particular private school in Madurai that he says has good sports facilities. “We were unable to do so as the RTE portal has not opened yet. We’ve enrolled him in another private school where the annual fee is Rs 12,000. We had to pay the fee in two instalments,” Selvamani said.
Selvamani works as a sales executive for a steel company and earns around Rs 18,000 a month. “I considered enrolling my son in a government school instead, but my wife, who conducts tuition for children, said that the government school in our neighbourhood is understaffed. She insisted that we enrol our son in a private school at least until Class 6 for a basic education.”
Pazhani, who works as a milk delivery person, has a monthly income of Rs 15,000. His daughter studies in Class 5 in Maharishi Vidyamandir in Chennai’s Ayanavaram neighbourhood. For the current academic year, the school has agreed to wait for the RTE reimbursement.
However, Pazhani added that his daughter would be forced to leave the school in the next academic year unless the RTE funds are released or if he can pay out of pocket. “She has studied in this school since the beginning. It will be hard for her to shift to another school at this point, but what can we do? If the funds don’t come, we will shift to a government school,” he said.
How the RTE Act works
The Act mandates the provision of free and compulsory education to all students from the ages of six to 14.
To this end, section 12 of the Act also stipulates a reservation of at least 25% of total seats in private, unaided schools for students from low-income families, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) communities and from otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds. The Act mandates that private, unaided schools are to be reimbursed for either the tuition fee or the per-child expenditure in government schools, whichever is lower.
As acknowledged by Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan in a 2021 reply in Parliament, the state and Union governments bear “concurrent responsibility” for implementing the provisions of the Act.
Reimbursement for the implementation of the 25% reservation in private, unaided schools is supported by the SSA scheme. The fund sharing pattern follows a 60:40 ratio between the Union and state governments in all states and union territories (UT) except for the eight northeastern states. States and UTs are required to notify the Union government of the per-child cost to claim reimbursement.
‘Schools suffer too’
KR Nandakumar, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Nursery Primary Matric HR Sec School Association, alleged that schools have not received RTE funds for the last two years.
“Private schools are facing hardships. We have to pay salaries, provident funds (PF), electricity bills, property taxes, professional taxes, road taxes for school buses, insurances, and so on. The state government says that the Union government hasn’t released the funds. The fund sharing between the state and Union government is 60:40. Why can’t the state government at least release their share of 40%?” Nandakumar asked.
He further claimed that most schools receive only five to ten students a year under the provisions of the RTE Act. “It’s only in bigger schools that this number goes up to 20 students, but it’s never more than 25 students,” he added.
Reacting to the present stalemate, Nandakumar said, “We are waiting for justice. We have been waiting for reimbursements for the past two years. We will wait for about two more months. If the funds are not released by then, we will approach the courts and hold protests.”
He also said, “For this academic year, we will be asking parents to pay out of pocket. We will refund them if the government reimburses us. That’s justice. Regarding the pending dues of two years, we will have to approach the courts to be reimbursed.”
Martin Kennedy, president of School Voice, a pan Tamil Nadu private schools association, said, “There is poor communication from the state government, a lack of clear timelines regarding reimbursements and bureaucratic delays in approving claims. Some schools have even faced rejections due to minor technicalities or documentation mismatches. In such instances, there is no proper recourse or grievance redressal mechanism for the schools.”
The fight in courts
Eeshwaran, founder of Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam (MMI), a Coimbatore-based political organisation that focuses on education and civic issues, has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court demanding that the state government initiate the RTE admissions process for the academic year 2025-26.
In response, on June 10, the Madras High Court said that the state government has a “non-derogable” obligation to reimburse private, unaided schools. “Non-receipt of funds from the Union government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation,” the high court added.
The Madras High Court also told the Union government that its obligation towards implementing the RTE provisions is independent of NEP. The high court maintained that as per section 7 of the RTE Act, the Union and state governments had “concurrent responsibility” for providing the requisite funds. The Union government’s obligatory share towards the RTE funds need not be linked to NEP, the high court added.
Further, the high court said, “The RTE component [of the SSA funds] must be less than Rs 200 crore. There cannot be any difficulty in releasing the Union government's share … We therefore direct the Union government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSA and disburse the funds accordingly.”
Previously, on May 20, the state government had approached the Supreme Court.
The state pointed out in its petition that the implementation of NEP or the PM Shri Schools initiative is not linked to the disbursal of SSA funds. The petition added that the withholding of the SSA funds is an attempt by the Union government to “pressure” and “coerce” the state government into implementing NEP.
Further, in its petition, the state government said that the Union government has failed to pay its 60% share to the RTE funds for four years now. According to the petition, the Union government owes Rs 153.7 crore for the financial year 2021-22 and Rs 188.99 crore for the financial year 2022-23. The petition added that the state government is presently only suing the Union government for its dues for the financial year 2024-25.
However, on June 9, Justice PK Mishra observed in the Supreme Court that there was no urgency to list the matter.
Political pressure and state government response
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami said in a statement on June 14, “The RTE Act was introduced so that children from poor and marginalised families do not have to seek favours from anyone to access education. But the Department of School Education and the Minister for School Education [Anbil Mahesh] have irresponsibly said that RTE admissions cannot be opened for the academic year 2025-26 as the Union government has not released the funds. This is being done to shatter the dreams of poor students.”
EPS also said, “Meanwhile, private school authorities are demanding both the fees for this academic year and the pending dues from the parents of students who are already enrolled under the RTE Act. The parents who do not have the money do not know what to do.
Referring to the Madras High Court’s order, EPS added, “The state government should reimburse the schools from the state’s budget without delay in accordance with the court’s order.”
CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugham also said in a statement on June 7, “The Union government is refusing to release Rs 2,152 crore due to the state under the SSA scheme. By not releasing these funds, the Union government is restricting the implementation of the RTE Act. The BJP-led Union government is causing grave damage to the educational welfare of children from poor and marginalised backgrounds.”
However, Shanmugam also condemned the Tamil Nadu government’s actions. “The state government cannot point to the pending funds from the Union government and stop the 25% admissions. This is unjust. The state government must resolve the issue, keeping in mind the educational welfare of students. The state government needs to hold consultations with private school authorities and find a solution.
When reached for comments, Joint Director of Matriculation, Suganya, told TNM, “We are implementers. We can act only on directions from above.”
Sources in the School Education Department told TNM that the state government is waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision. Sources also said that the state government will not take further steps unless the Union government takes action.