Tamil Nadu government will be forced to spend more than Rs 300 crore as fees for children even without attending a single physical class till now. Fees will be paid for children who were admitted in private schools under Rights to Education (RTE) Act. In this academic year, more than 80,000 children belonging to the disadvantaged groups were admitted to more than 6,000 private schools for LKG and Class 1 across the state under the RTE Act. 

As per the admission, state government has allocated Rs 304.14 crore for fee reimbursement in 2020-2021. But due to the pandemic outbreak except for Class 10 and Class 12, the schools still remain closed for all other classes. Online courses could not be conducted for students enrolled under RTE not only of their age but also unavailability of internet for virtual sessions. School Education Department senior official said, under the RTE Act once a kid got the admission card under RTE, it is the government’s responsibility to reimburse the fees for that particular student. 

Under RTE scheme, state and centre share children fee in the ration of 40:60. But definitely officials will discuss with the centre on the fees reimbursement whether it could be paid partly. KR Nandhakumar, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation, Higher Secondary, and CBSE Schools Association, said, "most of the institutions have paid the salaries for the teachers, the government should reimburse the fees for the students, who were admitted under RTE". This payment will be of more help to the schools which were most affected by the Pandemic. 

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