Jaipur, Feb. 16 -- Private schools in Jaipur remain in the dark over fee-reimbursement guidelines for Right to Education (RTE) admissions, said school authorities and parent bodies. This comes even after the education department on Saturday issueda timeline for such admissions in pre-primary and primary classes, following a high court mandate. The lack of clarity has fuelled confusion among private schools as the admission process kicks off on February 20. The Rajasthan high court ruled on January 17 that private schools must reserve 25% seats for economically weaker students from pre-primary levels (PP1, PP2, PP3) under RTE, with the state obligated to reimburse fees promptly. However, no fresh guidelines have emerged to replace a 2020 order that excluded pre-primary classes from reimbursements. Even as the education department on Saturday issued the timeline for admissions to all classes, including pre-primary levels, in both government and private schools under RTE, confusion persists over reimbursements for private institutions because the government has yet to release guidelines. A senior official from the education minister's office said the government is preparing the guidelines. "The government will follow the high court's order. We will issue the guidelines soon." President of Rajasthan Private School Kranti Sangh, Hemlata Sharma, said, "We expect the government to comply with the high court's order. However, they have not yet issued any guidelines or notification regarding the reimbursement process, which is creating confusion. This timeline, which was issued on Saturday, is nothing new for us." On January 17, the HCwarned that denying RTE admissions at the pre-primary level would deprive underprivileged children of early education, leaving them behind their affluent peers and defeating the RTE Act's purpose. The court directed the state government to issue a new circular per the judgment, ensuring compliance. To comply, the education department set a timeline: applications for RTE seats in three pre-primary classes and Class 1 begin February 20, with lotteries on March 6. "However, they have not issued any guidelines to rectify the 2020 order that did not recognise the pre-primary levels of private schools under RTE. Nobody from the government has also communicated with us so far," said Damodar Goyal, principal of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, Jaipur. He added that the process might be delayed because reimbursing pre-primary seats imposes extra financial strain. "To comply with the HC's order, private schools also have to increase their intakes in the pre-primary level to maintain the 25% cap. We estimate that at least 200,000 students across the state will get admission under RTE at this level, which may require a budget of around Rs.400 crore," he said. Joint secretary of the Parents' Association, Abhishek Jain Bittu, said the government must clarify its stance. "Issuing the new timeline when admissions for previous years under RTE are not yet settled is only a double standard by this government. There is still no clarity on withdrawing the previous 2020 notification."...