To ensure smooth coordination between the education department and the private schools of capital city on the issues of universal Right to Education (RTE), the Chief Education Officer (CEO) SP Khali took a meeting with the representatives of the schools here on Thursday.
The meeting was convened to discuss the modalities of admissions under RTE and redressing the grievances of the private schools. The representatives of 26 schools affiliated with Indian Council of Secondary Education (ICSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) participated in the meeting.
The District RTE coordinator Tripta Sharma told The Pioneer 800 vacancies are in different schools of the city. The representatives of the schools complained that they have not received the payments from the state government in lieu of the admissions they give under RTE. They were assured by the CEO Khali that all their pending payments would be disbursed soon. The meeting was also attended by city education officer Indramani Balodi.
The RTE ensures that the 25% seats in all the private schools are kept reserved for the students belonging to the underprivileged sections of the society. The private schools give admissions to the poor students under RTE in class I. The state government bears the cost of tuition fees and also pays for the mid day meals, textbooks and uniform of these students till class VIII.
The RTE is clear in its description of underprivileged students who would avail the benefit. The section 2 D of RTE mentions that the students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), non creamy layers of Other Backward Castes (OBCs), patients of leprosy and AIIDS should be the beneficiaries of 25% reservations under RTE. Section 2 E of the act includes all the individuals with an annual income of less than Rs 55000 as the beneficiaries of the aforesaid scheme.
The students belonging to the above two categories could opt any school in their neighborhood and enroll their wards in class I of that school. The schools are bound to give admissions in the 25% seats and incase the seats are not filled then these seats would remain vacant. These vacant seats could be filled only by the students belonging to the underprivileged sectionsany time during the academic session.