Over 80% private schools in Delhi do not implement RTE: Report

While states were not publishing data related to monitoring of children admitted to schools, there were five states and Union Territories (UTs), which were yet to notify this provision, the survey revealed.

"13 states and Union Territories do not have readily available information on the number of students in schools under this provision," the report said.

There has been a slowdown in the number of seats available under RTE in unaided private schools. In 2016-17, the annual number of seats in India reserved for EWS and DG students in unaided private schools stood at 21.8 lakh, down from 22.7 lakh in 2015-16.

There is also a slowdown in the rate of increase in the overall number of students in schools under RTE in 2017. According to the report, the reasons for this slowdown can be an increase in dropouts as well as a fall in a number of new admissions.

A lack of school participating in the RTE process is one of the biggest reasons for a low fill rate. A majority of the schools cite reimbursements from the government as the problem.

Since 2014-15, Rs 2,599 crore have been reimbursed to states under the Act. However, there is little to no information on the disbursal of reimbursements from the state to private schools, according to the report.

Inspite of an overall increase in the number of enrolments, the implementation of RTE is marred by several policy gaps such as lack of clarity in the definition of free education. Several states are of the view that they are free to charge 'other ancillary fees' and that only the tuition fee will be reimbursed by the government.

"The fees charged for books and uniforms have been a major cause for concern among parents and guardians," the report noted.

There is no codified process in place in any state to assign a timeline and process by which state to school reimbursements will be conducted. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have instituted online reimbursement processes, but delays due to lack of swift action against non-abiding private school are common.

One of the reasons behind the lack of policy implementation is that income limits are exclusionary in some states, with some states having a limit lower than the minimum wage of the state, while some only consider BPL families under EWS, the survey found.

"While there is lack of policy clarity on students' future after passing class 8, document requirements like Aadhaar and certain others have excluded sections of the beneficiary population including children from migrant populations, single mothers, among others," the report stated.