Govt to crack whip on 1,924 schools for RTE violation

The State government has identified 1,924 unaided primary schools (irrespective of their affiliation to any board and excluding minority institutions) which have allegedly failed to provide 25 per cent seats to students from economically weaker sections under the Right To Education (RTE) Act this academic year.

In a circular on August 26,2013, A Deva Prakash, Director, Public Instruction (Primary), said the deputy directors of public instruction (DDPIs) had categorised erring schools into two: those which have not admitted students at all under the 25-per cent quota under Section 12 (1) (c) of the RTE Act, and others which rejected RTE applications.

43 schools violated

In the first category, it was found that 43 schools violated the said clause, 10 have moved the court against the RTE Act and 22 others did not implement the legislation for various reasons.

In the second category, the department identified 1,849 schools which have not accepted RTE applications at all. Of them, 198 schools were found to be lacking infrastructure, 799 did not provide quality education and 852 others faced both the problems.

Meantime, the District-Level Education Regulation Authority (which redresses grievances under the RTE Act in the State) will have to look into the following:

In case of schools which have approached the court (under the first category), DPI officials have been asked to collect details of the court proceedings and update the department.

Schools which have not admitted children have been asked to explain their failure to comply with the Act and accordingly correct them.

Meanwhile, inspectors will be appointed to check whether schools meet all requirements under the RTE Act.

Once the authority gets the final report, schools found guilty of violations will lose recognition.

If schools are found to be running without recognition, appropriate action will be taken against them.