A group of parents on Friday met the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Tiruppur, demanding seats for their children under Section 12 (1) (c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The parents were represented by Motherland National Charitable Trust, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Coimbatore that focuses on education.
The petition said that a private school had admitted students under RTE Act until last year. However, the school refused to do so for the current academic year after it allegedly renamed itself.
Ajay Chaurasiya, founder and managing trustee of the NGO, told The Hindu that his organisation had helped the students get admissions in the school for the last three years. “We are fighting for the rights of all these students. There are around 35-40 students, but only 27 parents had come,” he said. Mr. Chaurasiya added that the petition has been sent to Directorate of Matriculation Schools, Chennai.
When contacted, officials from the school management said that they were unable to register under RTE Act after they relocated and renamed the school and said they were considering options to offer fee concession to retain the students.
A senior education official, on conditions of anonymity, told The Hindu that the old school had to be closed because of poor infrastructure, adding that the relocated and renamed school will be added to the list of RTE schools by next week.
According to the Section 12 (1) (c) of the RTE Act, private schools “...shall admit in Class 1, to the extent of at least 25 % of the strength of that class, children belonging to the weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood and provide free and compulsory elementary education till its completion.”