Christian missionary schools in the capital have filed a petition in MP High Court for stay on the recent order of the State’s School Education Department (SED) regarding admission of underprivileged children in these schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Bhopal Public Relation Officer (PRO) Fr Johnny PJ, principal of St Joseph’s Co-ed School, informed that order issued by the SED has wrongly interpreted the relevant sections of the Act to impose arbitrary decision on the minority schools.
SED has decided that only religious educational institutions including Christian missionary schools and other minority schools will be allowed to claim exemption from the relevant provisions of RTE Act. In a letter dated March 18, issued to all the Collectors and Education Officers, the Department has directed that the officials concerned should take action to enforce the orders in their respective districts.
The Department took this decision after consulting the legal Department of the State government. The Christian schools had criticized the order alleging that it targeted a particular community and also that it was in violation of the judgment of Supreme Court delivered last year.