Like Deepika, a large number of children who managed to get admission in private schools under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota are now struggling as the state government and the schools have not provided them with any textbooks or uniform till now.
Deepika Kumari, 6, who studies in a private school in east Delhi’s Anand Vihar area, attended her first class of the session on Monday. Unlike her classmates, however, she did not seem that enthused as while the other kids looked forward to their new uniform and new books, Deepika did not have any of these. All that she could manage was a small notebook.
Like Deepika, a large number of children who managed to get admission in private schools under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota are now struggling as the state government and the schools have not provided them with any textbooks or uniform till now. The academic session began 10 days ago.
“The textbooks and uniform cost Rs 8,000 and we can’t afford it. My daughter was not ready to go to school without her new books. Somehow, I managed to convince her to attend classes on Monday,” Deepika’s father Rakesh Prashad said. A resident of a slum cluster in east Delhi’s Jhilmil Colony, Prashad is a vendor.
“I have been running from pillar to post to arrange for her new books and uniform. She is a growing kid and last year’s uniform is not fitting her now,” he said.
Similarly, parents of 10-year-old Karanjeet, a Class III student in a private school in west Delhi, are struggling to arrange for his course material. “We have written to the school Principal twice in the last week, but have not received any response yet,” Karanjeet’s mother Mansi Singh said.
According to the Delhi Right to Education (RTE) rules 2011, private schools operating on the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) land have to, with assistance from the government, provide textbooks and uniform to students under the EWS quota. Even last year, thousands of children like Deepika did not receive their books and uniform until parents of a student filed a petition in the Delhi High Court.
Meanwhile, the authorities are simply passing the buck. The schools keep saying that they did not receive funds for the timely supply of books and uniform, while the Delhi government officials claim that they have already supplied books for EWS students to private schools across the city.
Khagesh Jha, a lawyer and an RTE activist, said: “This is not the first time that thousands of students are suffering due to the wilful disobedience of the order passed by a Division Bench in 2014 to ensure uninterrupted supply of free books, uniform, and writing material to 16 lakh such students in Delhi.”
“Why do they admit the EWS students in private schools if they can’t provide them with the facilities. Sometimes, the situation turns really humiliating for these students and their parents,” he added.
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