Calendar of events out, but managements remain sceptical

The State government on Tuesday notified the reimbursement amount to private schools under the 25 per cent reservation provision of the RTE Act, at Rs 11,848 per child.

 
While this is for students enrolling for class 1, the reimbursement for pre-schooling will be 50 percent of this amount, according to G Kumar Naik, Secretary of the Department of Primary and Secondary Education.

On Monday, the government issued the calendar of events for private schools to implement the 25 per cent reservation for children from weaker sections. Private schools must declare the number of reserved seats by May 10. While the applications can be issued till May 25, students should be selected by the schools between May 30 and June 5.

As reported by Deccan Herald, the government also notified the 7.5 per cent reservation of seats for SCs and 1.5 per cent reservation for STs, out of the 25 percent quota for the underprivileged children. The remaining 16 per cent will be accommodated by schools by giving seats to children with special needs, orphans, migrants, OBCs and HIV-affected. 

While the government has been doing its bit to root out confusion, schools are still unhappy with the directions for reservation for several reasons. Speaking to Deccan Herald, C Nagaraju of Raghavendra High School on Magadi Road said a few years ago, the State faced a similar situation with respect to making Kannada medium compulsory for primary schools. 

“Schools found a way to flout rules and eventually everyone forgot about it. This is going to be similar as there are many practical problems involved in the implementation of the RTE Act.” 

However, if the department is making it compulsory, schools have to accept it as they are answerable to the department, he says. Smaller schools like his will be able to accommodate students from this academic year itself, Nagaraju said. But he wonders whether students will want to join small schools. 

“There are 15 to 20 schools in this area. I do not think we will be able to find sufficient students for schools like ours to fill up the 25 per cent quota,” says Nagaraju.

Palani, head master of Isaac Newton School, says most schools are not even familiar with the rules under RTE, 15 days from school reopening, forget implementation. 

“However, our area has many students from the weaker sections. We will be able to give the 25 per cent reservation,” Palani says. 

Starting an additional section is a problem, as it requires permission from the government, he says. 

Though schools that have completed admissions will be able to provide a few seats, if not all the 25 per cent, will the government be happy with it?, asks Kamalaksha Shetty, Treasurer of Navodaya Vidyaniketan, RT Nagar.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Unaided Schools’ Management Association (KUSMA) is clear that schools will not be able to implement the reservation from this year. “There are 1,500 member schools of KUSMA. We are going to file a review petition in the Supreme Court within a week asking us to grant time for implementation,” said G S Sharma of KUSMA.  

Progress till date

Schools have been asked to hire teachers with TCH/D Ed qualification for classes 1 to 5 and with B Ed qualification for classes 6 and 7.

Officials concerned have been asked to make a list of all schools within their Gram Panchayat and urban jurisdictions, specifying details of schools within 1 km and 3 km of the particular area or ward, as the case may be, and publish it in the offices of all departments and on the district website by May 10.

Officials have been directed to identify neighbourhood schools as per Section 4 of RTE Act. If there are no schools in a neighbourhood, provisions have to be made to begin a school in that neighbourhood within three years.