As the June 10 deadline for implementing the 25% quota for students belonging to economically weaker sections draws near, the state has launched checks to verify the minority status of schools.
As the June 10 deadline for implementing the 25% quota for students belonging to economically weaker sections draws near, the state has launched checks to verify the minority status of schools.
According to the Supreme Court judgment, minority unaided schools will be exempted from implementing the 25% reservation under Right to Education Act.
Suspecting that big schools might try to weasel their way out of implementing the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, the state is acting tough.
To take cover under this clause, many schools have suddenly started brandishing their 'minority status', thus closing their doors to students from the weaker section.
The government is making sure they back their claims.
"We are serious about implementing the 25% reservation. Unfortunately, many schools are taking shelter under the minority clause. But schools will have to prove to us whether they are genuinely minority. They will have to produce minority certificates and other documents to back their claims,'' said Sanjay Deshmukh, special project director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.
Every zonal education department has started to check the veracity of claims by 'minority unaided' schools. They are required to have a minority certificate.
An education official from the South Zone said: "We have around 197 schools claiming to be a minority in south Mumbai to Dadar. We will check how many of them possess minority certificates.
Those schools which do not possess such certificates will have to implement the RTE clauses including the 25% reservation."
Educationists said that most of the top schools are claiming to be a minority and that has limited the options of a good school for students from the economically weak background. "The RTE promised to provide good quality education to poor students. But most schools in the city are minority and that leaves only aided schools and small private schools that will take in these students,'' said Arundhati Chauhan, president of United Parent Teacher Association forum.
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