Corporate Schools should follow RTE Act, says DLSA

Vizianagaram District Legal Services Authority has decided to crack down on corporate schools which reportedly failed in the last few years in implementing guidelines of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

As per the guidelines of the Act, the schools are supposed to provide free education to students of poor families. At least 25% of seats have to be allocated for the children of downtrodden sections. However, a majority of the schools ignore the rule due to lack of supervision from the Education Department.

Vizianagaram District Judge and chairman of District Legal Services Authority Alapati Giridhar and Senior Civil Judge and Secretary of the DLSA M.Srihari held a series of meetings with the management representatives of corporate schools. “We have directed officials of the Education Department to implement the Act strictly. Notices have to be served on the managements if the guidelines are violated from new academic year,” said Mr. Giridhar and Mr. Srihari.

Vizianagaram District Fire Safety Department has been directed to verify safety measures in schools prior to the beginning of academic year.As part of creating awareness among the students about their rights, DLSA authorities established legal services clubs in several schools and colleges in the district.

“We requested the advocates to actively participate in awareness programmes in those clubs,” said Kantubhukta Srinivasa Rao, president of Vizianagaram Bar Association.