A group of activists alleged on Thursday that a private school in Pollachi did not carry out the lottery system of admissions properly for the seats under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
Members of the Pollachi-based Joint Association for Right to Education of Students arrived at the office of the Chief Educational Officer to submit a petition, which alleged that the school management autonomously selected six students under the ‘disadvantaged group’ for admissions under the RTE Act quota. Five seats remain vacant in the school, which are not being filled under the RTE Act, the petition said.
Accusing the education officials from Pollachi of not taking any action despite the association’s complaints, the petition requested R. Murugan, Chief Educational Officer, to admit the “deserving students” in the waiting list under the RTE Act in the school.
V. Eswaran, secretary for State youth wing of MDMK who was one of the petitioners, claimed that none of the private schools implement the RTE Act quota and education officials are not taking action against such schools.
The activists held a sit-in protest on the office premises. The protest was called off after M. Venkateswaran, Pollachi District Educational Officer (in-charge), assured them that the children will be admitted under RTE Act quota.
When contacted, school officials said that they were not involved in the selection process and the lottery admissions were carried out in the presence of officials.
A senior education official from Pollachi told The Hindu that there were no irregularities in the lottery admissions as the school managements are not involved in the process. The vacant seats will be filled soon from the waiting list.