Bhubaneswar, Jan. 1: Private schools admitting students under the Right to Education (RTE) Act will be reimbursed Rs 9,184 per year per child.

According to the act, all private schools will have to reserve 25 per cent of the seats at the entry level for economically weaker section and socially disadvantaged students in the age group between six and 14 years. The move aims to ensure free and compulsory education for all.

However, most schools in the state had been avoiding admission of students under this act with the excuse that the state government had not developed any plans of reimbursement.

The Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority had recently calculated per child expenditure for the students admitted to these schools under the elementary category.

'The delay in calculating a reimbursement was a major roadblock for admission of many students. We developed it, and the state government approved it. We hope that the underprivileged children will now get an opportunity to study in private schools with better infrastructure and teachers,' said a senior officer of the authority.

Private school authorities in Bhubaneswar, however, are of the view that the amount is very low as compared to the fees the general students are paying in these institutes. They even rued that despite admitting students for many years under the scheme, they had received no reimbursements from the department. The annual expenditure for the education of a single child in the elementary classes at private schools ranges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000.

'The amount calculated is very low considering the facilities given in such high-end schools. I do not think the schools will agree to this,' said a school principal.

The school authorities said the number of such applicants had been every low. 'This could be because of low awareness about the provisions in the act,' said Priyabrata Jena, a school principal.

Mahendra Parida, an activist, said schools had been avoiding students trying to seek admission under the 25 per cent quota. 'They are often misbehaved by the staff members - which is why they hesitate to get their wards admitted,' he said.