RTE leading to closure of govt schools, says health minister

Health Minister K R Ramesh Kumar on Thursday said implementation of the Right to Education Act was resulting in the closure of government schools in the state.

Parents belonging to the economically weaker section are sending their children to private schools under the RTE Act, and the government is paying for their education.

“The RTE scheme is leading to closure of government schools,” he stated in the Legislative Assembly. The minister was replying to BJP’s Y A Narayanaswamy who was debating the issue of closure of government schools in the state.

Narayanaswamy earlier said the government has paid private schools Rs 300 crore as fee reimbursement under the RTE Act in the financial year 2014-15. Instead of paying private institutions, the government could have used the funds for improving the quality of education. Many private educational institutions have commercialised education, he added.

Ramesh Kumar further said goons, rowdies and suspended government officials have established educational institutions. They are running institutions like business ventures. “Unfortunately, many members of the Legislative Assembly are also running educational institutions. This has resulted in conflict of interest. It (Assembly) is a public forum and the public interest is naturally suffering,” he added.

BJP MLA Arvind Bellad suggested that the government should start lower and upper kindergarten in government schools in order to increase the enrolment of students. K S Puttannaiah of the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha advised the government to reserve 30% of state government jobs to those who have studied in its schools.