Bangalore has least enrolment under RTE 25 pc reservation

Bangalore has the least enrolment under the 25 per cent reservation provision of the Right to Education Act.

According to statistics provided by the Department of Education, Bangalore division, including Bangalore North, South and Rural, has only 27.74 per cent enrolment in seats provided specially for students from economically weaker backgrounds.

Bangalore North was allotted 11,304 seats to be provided by schools in this zone for students from poor families, schools in South Bangalore were to provide 16,656 seats and Bangalore Rural 1,779 seats.

The number of students enrolled for admissions is far lower than the intended seats. While North received 1,868 students, South has 2,408 and Rural has about 948 students enrolled.

Put together, of the 50,685 seats available, only 14,058 students have enroled under the quota, which is a mere 27.74 per cent.

B’lore far behind

Statistics from other districts show that Bangalore is far behind in enrolment. While the Mysore division has recorded 43.09 per cent, in Belgaum it is 45.7 per cent and Gulbarga 44.5 per cent.

Asked about the reason for Bangalore lagging behind, Prabhakara K S, commissioner of the Department of Public Instruction, attributed it to “resistance” from schools in the City.

Inaccessibility

Niranjan Aradhya, Fellow, Centre for Child and the Law, National Law School of India University, said it could be because of the inaccessibility to private schools in a bigger city.

“Parents from weaker economic background are often intimidated by the ways of affluent schools.  Beginning from walking past security guards in such schools, everything becomes a hassle to them,” Aradhya said. In smaller towns, private schools are more or less on a par with public schools in terms of accessibility, he observed.

There is no conducive atmosphere in urban spaces for the cultural reconstruct that the reservation provision mandates, he said.

Aradhya suggested that until stakeholders become familiar with the process, Block Education Officers could involve themselves more actively in facilitating admissions.
Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, said stringent  action would be taken against schools violating the Act.

Referring to the call by Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association to shut down schools from July 16 to 22, Kageri said he was confident the institutions will not break his “trust”.

Officials have also warned schools they would lose their recognition if they put students’ future in peril by shuting down schools.

He said the State government was open to discussion with all stakeholders and made it clear that disagreement with certain Sections of the Act should not be a reason to not implement it.

Admission figures

Division    Available         Number of
    seats        students enrolled   
Bangalore    50685    14058
Mysore    16037    6910
Belgaum    26748    12,224
Gulbarga    19004    8471
(excluding Gulbarga district)