Maharashtra govt sits on RTE, deprives poor kids of admission

In the absence of a directive from the state government on reserving 25% seats for underprivileged children, schools are admitting students for the academic year 2012-13 without setting aside seats for the needy.

The Children's Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2010 or the Right to Education Act (RTE) states that 25% of seats in schools must be reserved for the underprivileged.

Though the Supreme Court has not issued a stay on the provisions of the RTE Act, the state is waiting for a decision from the court before passing on instructions to schools. However, this has deprived the underprivileged children of the right to education.
Most schools are only following certain procedures such as giving preference to children living in the neighbourhood. "We are not reserving seats for the underprivileged. When the government passes on instructions to us, we will follow them," said Sujata Menon, principal of New Horizon Public School in Panvel.
"The government is sitting on the RTE. The RTE was supposed to ensure children of maid servants and other poor kids get a chance to study in the best of schools, but admissions have already begun and this is not being done,” said Jayant Jain, president of Forum For Fairness in Education, an NGO that works for education.

Many schools are conducting interviews and charging as much as Rs5,000 for admission forms, but the government is not taking any action.  It is mere lip service," said Jayant Jain, president of Forum For Fairness in Education, an NGO that works for education.

Principal of Kharghar's Bal Bharati Public School Sudhi Mattoo says there is too much confusion. "We are confused about whether we should or should not reserve 25% of our seats. It is a huge number and the government must inform us about it soon. While the RTE has been discussed in various non-government forums, we are clueless about how the reservation has to be done," she said.

There is also confusion about the implementation of other provisions of the RTE Act such as the inclusion of pre-primary schools. Jain said the rules for the RTE Act in the state (April 2011) have defined elementary education as starting from 3 to 18 years while the Centre says it is from 6-14 years.

"Going by this definition, pre-primary education will also come under the purview of the government. However, the government has not taken any action on regulating the interviews that are being openly held in pre-primary schools. Schools are even accepting children aged two-and-a-half years. What is the government doing to stop that?" asked Jain.

A senior education official, however, said it is now mandatory for the government to follow the provision of 3-18 years. "Whether to include children in the age group of 3-6 in the umbrella of the RTE Act is subject to the availability of resources with the state. Also, the RTE Act extends only to disabled children aged 14-18 and not the others," said the official. However, there is no mention of this in the copy of the state government rules dated April 9, 2011.