Private schools under scanner for flouting RTE norms

RANCHI: Several parents on Thursday accused Ranchi’s private schools of not adhering to the regulations of right to education (RTE) Act by not filing up the quota of their seats for students belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) category.
Private schools are required to fill up 25% of their seats with students from EWS families according the RTE Act.The total number of seats under the RTE Act in Jharkhand is 24,347.
Several parents claimed that private schools have denied admission to their children for over a year under EWS category. Lakshmi Devi, a parent, said, “I submitted admission form for my daughter in a private school. Two academic years have lapsed and my child has not been admitted.” Lakshmi has filed a petition with the Jharkhand high court and is awaiting a ruling.”
Dinesh Kumar Yadav, the father of another applicant from Alkapuri, said, “During the entire admission process, there was a complete absence of communication from a renowned school. In addition, we have not been supplied with any tracking measure of the admission procedure being followed by the school, leaving us in a position of uncertainty.”
Sharquee Abrar, an activist of RTE Watch, said, “According to the report of the Project Approval Board (PAB) of the Department of School Education released on 30 June 2022, only 14,169 children will be enrolled in schools by 2022-23 academic year, indicating that over 94% of seats across Jharkhand under the EWS category are unfilled. Approximately, 2,29,301 children from STs, SCs, OBCs, and other economically disadvantaged groups have denied the benefits of the RTE Act in the past decade.”
District education officer (DEO) Akash Pandey said, “Multiple times schools have been notified on parents’ complaints and the obstacles preventing admission in the EWS seats. However, they provide explanations such as technological difficulties and other problems. Action will be taken against them. We will also inform the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) besides the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that the RTE standards have not been followed in the school.”