A total of 20,491 children belonging to economically weaker section of society were enrolled under Right to Education (RTE) Act in different Government unaided schools in the academic year 2013-14 in the State, said school education (basic) director RK Kunwar.
All the district education officers (basic) have been directed to ensure that out of school children are enrolled in the neighbourhood schools in their respective districts. Apart from this, they have been directed to conduct awareness campaign about RTE Act among masses under their jurisdiction, Kunwar added.
Another department officer said that a total of 15, 104 children from weaker section of society were enrolled under RTE Act in the year 2011-12 while 17, 246 were enrolled in 2012-13. A total of 6, 180 children were enrolled in Udham Singh Nagar this year, 4185 in Dehradun, 2841 in Haridwar, 1502 in Nainital, 1002 in Almora, 974 in Tehri, 803 in Pauri, 757 in Uttarkashi, 626 in Pithoragarh, 508 in Champawat, 496 in Chamoli, 311 in Rudraprayag and 306 in Bageshwar under the Act.
The Government has recently released Rs 33.45 crore in this financial year to provide tuition fees of enrolled children to the Government unaided schools. In the year 2011-12, the government had released Rs 6.40 crore while Rs 13.60 crore was released in 2012-13. Provision for expenses like midday meal scheme, text books and uniforms for enrolled students has also been included in released funds,
he added. The education department pays tuition fee according to schools’ fee structure but tuition fees should not exceed Rs 1387 per child. Tuition fee is directly transferred to school’s account by the officers at district level. Apart from tuition fees, the department releases Rs 400 for uniform per child, Rs 150 for text books and Rs 1387 for midday meal (Rs 6.03 per meal for 230 days) and department officers transfer this amount directly to student’s account annually.
Under RTE Act, 25 per cent children from financial weaker section will be enrolled in 3693 unaided schools each year in the State. The block education officers, block resource coordinators and cluster resource coordinators have been strictly directed to ensure that allocated seats in the public unaided schools are filled with the enrollment of these children without delay.
