RTE not implemented properly in Pollachi schools, say parents

Coimbatore: Parents and activists on Thursday staged a sit-in at the Coimbatore chief education office in the city alleging that private schools in Pollachi had not been implementing admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act properly, under which 25% seats are allotted to students from underprivileged backgrounds. The state would pay the tuition fee for these students.
Parents and activists claimed some schools had not listed students from the disadvantage group, meant for children of HIV affected parents and scavengers properly, and children who were not from such backgrounds were also listed under the category. “In one instance, the same student was listed under disadvantaged group in one school and was listed in the common RTE category in another school,” Prakash, a member of Pollachi-based Federation for Students’ Education Rights, said.
They said in another instance, there were around five vacant RTE seats in one school and three students were waiting for the seats. “When the number of students is lesser than the number of vacant seats, there is no need for a lot system. The students can be accommodated easily, but the school has not yet admitted the students,” MDMK youth wing secretary V Eswaran said.
A parent from Pollachi said he had applied for RTE admission for LKG in a private school, but even though there were vacant seats, his ward had not been given admission.
When contacted, authorities from a private school in Pollachi, where parents claimed RTE seats were not filled properly, said they had been given a list of students for RTE admission by an overseeing team of teachers and officials from government schools and had stuck to it. “We have not done anything wrong and are ready to fill all the 15 seats under RTE. We have been properly filling RTE seats in the past years,” said a school authority.
When contacted, Coimbatore chief education officer R Murugan said he would the team from government schools which had gone to implement RTE admissions at private schools in Pollachi, and based on that, would initiate action.