JOIN USRTE rules will be amended to prevent misuse: Minister
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Ratnakar on Tuesday said rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act would be tightened to prevent its misuse.
Besides, the government has decided to give priority to students from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families to get admission in schools under the RTE Act from the next academic year. Currently, admission under RTE Act is given based on income limit, he added.
Speaking to reporters, he said the State government had received complaints about parents obtaining admission by submitting fake domicile documents. Some parents have submitted fake house-rent or lease agreement as proof of domicile, though they do not live in that locality. The Department will soon bring in certain amendments to the RTE rules to prevent its misuse, he added.
The government is planning to impose a restriction on parents to take admission for only class one under RTE Act from the next academic year.
The move is aimed at preventing exodus of students from government schools to private schools under RTE Act. As many as 3 lakh students from government schools have taken admission in private schools using the RTE Act in the last three years, the Minister said.
Ratnakar said the government had urged the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to amend its rules, allowing MCom graduates to become PU lecturers. BEd course is a must for one to become the lecturer. MCom graduates cannot take the up the BEd course. So, it has affected thousands of job aspirants in the State. Instead of BEd, a bridge course of about 10 months can be provided to MCom graduates, he added.
Asked about private educational institutions collecting donation and exorbitant tuition fee from parents, the Minister said the government will take action if it receives any specific complaints. Only solution to the problem is the parents sending their children to government schools, he added.
He said the government has no plan to make participation in international yoga day on June 21 compulsory for students in the State.
The minister said that State government was contemplating whether to provide legislative framework for its new child protection policy.
The government had decided to come out with the policy to ensure safer schools in the State in the wake of repeated incidents of sexual violence against children in school.
“A committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary V Umesh is finalising the policy. The suggestion made in the policy could be implemented effectively if it is given statutory status,” the minister said.