JOIN USMore schools come under RTE
Though the Right to Education (RTE) Act received lukewarm response in coastal districts last year, this year the schools are eager to get registered under the Act.
In fact, till date Dakshina Kannada DDPI has received highest number of applications requesting registration, in the State. Udupi district stands second.
According to the information, out of 19,966 schools (including aided and unaided) in the State, only 223 schools have applied for RTE registration. Among these, 221 applications have been accepted by the respected DDPIs while two have been rejected.
Dakshina Kannada district stands first with 163 accepted applications from 809 schools. According to the block wise report, 89 applications are from Bantwal, 35 from Puttur, 20 from Sullia and 19 from Moodbidri. In Udupi, 58 applications submitted by 501 schools have been accepted by the DDPI .
Unsolved issue
Though both aided and unaided schools come under RTE, focus was always on unaided (private) schools as they didn’t show interest in RTE Act.
However, in Dakshina Kannada, 168 unaided schools (except minority schools) offer 1652 seats under RTE for the first standard (25 per cent seats in every school). In Udupi, 74 unaided schools (except minority schools) offer 1061 seats under RTE Act, which would increase in coming days.
The minority institutions don’t come under RTE Act. But in Karnataka, DK has highest number of schools belonging to minority institutions. Out of 476 unaided schools in the district, more than 177 are minority schools, including 9 in Sullia, 78 in Puttur, 18 in Moodbidri, 23 in Bantwal, 26 in Belthangady, 104 in Mangalore North and 47 in Mangalore South. In Udupi dstrict, out of 118 unaided schools, 44 are minority schools.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Convenor of a NGO Forum Renny D’Souza opines that though some minority institutions show interest to come under the Act, the clash of two Acts (Minority Fundamental Rights Act and RTE Act) has created the problem. “Everyone should be equal under RTE Act. So there should be some amendments done to the constitution. We are organising a convention in Bangalore in April to increase awareness,” he added.
Speaking about the increasing interest of schools to come under RTE Act, he said: “Big institutions may lose face by implementing the Act, but small schools with 10 to 15 students would show interest. They get financial support as the government reimburses the money of children who come under the Act (at least Rs 11,000 per child)”. Though the RTE Act seems to be helpful to the poor, everyone should be treated equal, he added.