JOIN USRTE implementation flummoxes school representatives
Representatives of several schools raised doubts over the implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act during the upcoming academic year at a meeting organised by Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA) at Gnanaganga Vidyapeeta here on Tuesday.
Discussing the issues to be faced by schools, High Court advocate K V Dhananjay said that unaided non-minority schools have to abide by RTE or face the threat of losing recognition.
RTE includes setting aside 25 per cent of seats for underprivileged children, which would be chosen by the state government.
Explaining about RTE, Dhananjay said no fee of any sort could be collected from these 25 per cent students. Also, there should be no discrimination in facilities.
Citing an example, he said if the school plans to take students on a tour then all students (coming under the 25 per cent bracket) should also be taken along and no fee can be collected.According to the act, the school cannot prevent an underprivileged child from attending classes if he/she fails to wear the uniform due to unaffordability.
If a school plans to include smart classes then it should be available for each student without any discrimination. Children in the age group of six to 14 years would be eligible to take the benefit of RTE.
He said from this academic year onwards, underprivileged students would be included from Class one onwards. This means that during the next year, they would be promoted to class two and a new batch would be included to class one. This would continue until they reach class eight.
RTE also denies schools the prior practise of conducting interviews of parents and children before providing a seat. Instead, schools have to use a random method to select the prospective students of the school.
It also denies physical or corporal punishment of any sort. Recognition can be withdrawn if the school is found guilty of such actions. RTE doesn’t apply to minority institutions and boarding schools.
No person can directly approach the school to avail seats under RTE. The list of underprivileged students would be given directly by the state government or education department concerned in the district.
KUSMA state head Sharma and KUSMA mysore region head Sowmya Ramesh were present.