JAIPUR : Several shanties in slum areas of Rajasthan are waiting for the sun to rise on April 2. The beginning of a new academic session in schools will usher in hope for several families living in these slums. Children from economically poor backgrounds will walk into these elite schools, made possible by the Right to Education Act (RTE).
The Act provides 25% reservation of seats in private schools for children from economically poor and marginalised communities.
Living in a rented one-room house at
Jawahar Nagar Til slum, Kalu Ram is a rickshaw puller who barely manages to make ends meet. April 2 is a big day for him as his five-year-old son will go to
Maheshwari Public School in
Jawahar Nagar wearing new school uniform, shoes and carrying a bag with new books. “I don’t want my son to experience poverty, humiliation and social bias. I go by this school almost every day carrying passengers. I have never dared to even think of my son studying in this school,” said Ram to social activist Naim Rabbani, who ran a campaign in Jaipur slums during the RTE application period.
“This year, the response has been phenomenal. Our 10 camps submitted 484 applications seeking admission under RTE. Over 250 of them got admissions. The others didn’t make it due to fewer number of seats and higher number of applicants in schools they applied,” Rabbani said.
Ram’s story is not an isolated case. Imran Khan, a daily wage earner, has sent his daughter
Umema Khan to Ever Bright School in Jaisingpura. Khan, who may never have imagined of sending her to a costly private school, is a happy father. “Today is the third day after my daughter started going to school. She keeps on telling us the about it. This Act, which I was not aware until a month ago, is changing our life,” said Khan, who lives in
Sanjay Colony at Jasingpura.
The state has admitted over 1.5 lakh students in private schools under the Act. Children living in slums like Madari Basti, Khadda Basti, Jawahar Circle, Jhotwara, etc, have made it to schools under the scheme.
This year, most of the schools have followed instructions by providing school books and informing students. The online admission process was held for 2.5 lakh seats in around 33,500 private schools in the state.
An income cap of Rs 1 lakh has been put with the aim to provide the benefit of the scheme to marginalised sections of the society. Social categories, including the SCs and STs, have been excluded from the income limit.
Beginning of a new academic session in schools will usher in hope for several families living in slums.
