While 2025 has already neared an end, as many as 175 private unaided schools under Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and 255 schools from the Nagpur district have continued to run without Right to Education (RTE) approval, as per an RTI query filed by Nitin Dalvi, a member of the Maharashtra Student Teachers’ Parents Federation. Dalvi, on Wednesday, wrote to the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) alleging that the schools continue to operate as no strict action has been taken against them.
The activist has demanded strict action against such schools, including cancellation of their recognition and even a monetary penalty, as per the RTE Act. The schools need to renew their RTE approval every three years with ‘swamanyata’, the last slot for which was 2022-2025.
The list of defaulters features primary as well as secondary schools, some of which are even running junior colleges. The list also has international schools, and most of them remain English-medium institutions.
“Basics of running a school, be it electricity, clean classrooms, building structure, or even student-teacher ratio, all of these are covered under the RTE re-approval. Usually, authorities hold inspections before the approval, and private unaided schools also need to show this certificate while reimbursing the funds for 25 per cent RTE admissions,” explained Mahendra Ganpule, former head of the Maharashtra School Principals’ Association.
The RTE approval requires schools to comply with 20 basic norms, one of which also asks them to reveal their balance sheets. We believe that owing to monetary grey areas, these schools are delaying renewals, and the authorities are not eager to catch them,” said Dalvi.
A similar case was flagged under BMC in 2023, wherein over 200 schools failed to renew their RTE approval. “Just like Mumbai, Nagpur, and Thane, we have filed several RTIs around the state and are observing this lax approach across Maharashtra.
175
No. of private unaided schools in Thane without approval, as per activists
