Hyderabad is seeing growing financial challenges in its education sector. The State High Court is questioning the state government for not enforcing the 25% reservation for disadvantaged students in private schools, as required by the Right to Education Act 2009. Private schools say they can’t afford the costs of this scheme. Yadagiri Sheshagiri Rao, president of the Telangana Recognised Schools Management Association (TRSMA), mentioned that about 25,000 seats need to be allocated to SC and ST students under the Best Available Schools (BAS) Scheme. However, around Rs 200 crore in payments have been pending for three years.
If the government implements the Right to Education (RTE) Act, schools may need to create an additional 75,000 seats. The government must either pay the outstanding amounts per student or cover private school fees. For example, if a school’s fee is Rs 2 lakh annually, the government reimburses only Rs 1.10 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh, leaving a shortfall of Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 per student. Schools charging Rs 50,000 per year would receive the full fee amount.
Private schools are required to offer the government around one lakh seats under both the BAS and RTE Acts. Yet, the government has not cleared the Rs 200 crore in BAS dues from the past three years. Additionally, it reportedly owes Rs 600 crore for residential school rentals. Private colleges are also seeking Rs 7,500 crore in fee reimbursement dues.
School management is worried about continuing admissions under the BAS or RTE programs. “Many schools face closure due to debts from unpaid government dues. Small neighborhood schools are hit hardest. They can’t borrow more or stretch finances,” said Sheshagiri Rao.
Roughly 200 BAS schools have decided not to admit students until dues are paid. They may close and hand over keys to the school education department if necessary.
State School Education Department sources say the government might start international schools in every mandal for quality education. However, with Rs 8,000 crore in dues, the timeline to establish these international schools remains uncertain.
