Pvt, govt schools at odds over edu scheme for EWS students
As many as 700 pvt schools in the state have offered seats under the CM Haryana Equal Education Relief Assistance and Grant (CHEERAG) of the state government for the academic year 2025-26.
The scheme provides admissions to government school students belonging to economically weaker section parents, who have annual income up to Rs 1.80 lakh, in private schools. As per the information, 700 schools have offered 34,271 seats for the classes 5th to 12th for the upcoming academic year.
In Ambala, only 22 schools have offered seats to the students, reflecting a lukewarm response from the private schools. While the private school operators said the issue of reimbursement was a major reason behind the private schools not coming forward, the government schoolteachers’ body has also been seeking the withdrawal of the scheme.
Open it for all
The delay in reimbursement is one of the prime reasons behind the tepid response being given by private schools. Also, if the government really wants better results, it should open the scheme for all students.
Kulbhushan Sharma, president, National Independent Schools Alliance
Scrap it
From the very beginning, we have been demanding the withdrawal of the scheme. The money to be spent on the reimbursement should be spent on improving the infrastructure of government schools
Amit Chhabra, spokesman, Haryana Rajkiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh
Kulbhushan Sharma, president, National Independent Schools Alliance, said: “The delay in reimbursement is one of the prime reasons behind the tepid response being given by private schools. Besides, a number of schools were rejected due to the issues related to the recognition. Moreover, the scheme is going to be phased out in the next few years as the Education Department has been eliminating one class every year from the scheme. If the government really wants better results, it should open the scheme for all students and the issues related to recognition must be resolved.”
Haryana Rajkiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh spokesman Amit Chhabra said: “From the very beginning, we have been demanding the withdrawal of the scheme. On one hand, the government is asking the teachers to increase enrolment in government schools and on the other hand it is ready to reimburse the fee of government school students if they want to take admissions in private schools. Such dual policies have been a matter of concern for the teachers. The money to be spent on the reimbursement should be spent on improving the infrastructure of the government schools and recruiting more teachers.”
Meanwhile, District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) Sudhir Kalra said: “The department has released the list of eligible schools under the scheme to provide opportunity to the government school students to take admissions in the private schools. The students who want to take admissions in the schools who have offered seats will be facilitated. The department has also issued guidelines to be followed by the schools. In case the guidelines are not followed while giving admissions, the department will not be responsible for the reimbursement.”
