Chandigarh school body writes to DEO over EWS admission reimbursement

The local Independent Schools Association (ISA) has written to the District Education Officer (DEO), Chandigarh Administration, regarding forming a committee for calculating the reimbursement amount for economically weaker section (EWS) admissions before June 15, citing a recent order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Recently, the court of Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi had rejected the Administration’s contention of being liable to reimburse schools only for 10 per cent of EWS admissions under its 1996 scheme and not the full 25 per cent mandated by the RTE Act. The court had ruled that all schools, including the ones allotted land prior to a 1996 scheme, will be entitled to get reimbursement for 25 per cent students admitted under the EWS category.

In the letter, the ISA Chairman has stated: “As per the orders of the Punjab & Haryana High Court (specifying paragraph 42), authorised individuals from our association (ISA) will participate in a committee responsible for calculating the reimbursement amount. It will be grateful, if the department appoints and specifically states who will be authorised to be on this committee. We will also authorise four persons from our association to investigate this issue as directed by the high court. We request that this issue is expedited and all concerned are appointed before June 15.”

The court clarified the procedure for EWS admissions and directed that the Administration would prepare and forward the list of eligible EWS students to the schools. As many as 83 schools are operating in the city, including 50 which were allotted land before 1996, while the remaining 33 schools, inclusive of both unaided minority and private non-minority schools, were allotted land after 1996.

The issue of reimbursement of fee (EWS category) started after the implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act. The latter mandates reservation of up to 25 per cent to students in unaided private schools. In Chandigarh, 13 schools had opted for the minority status after 2012 as they were not bound to admit EWS category students. In the past, the ISA had alleged that the UT Education Department had reimbursed a partial amount, while the latter claimed that the fee had been released following the framed rules and regulations.