BANGALORE: While the Supreme Court’s decision on RTE has supported the state government, many private schools are still finding it hard to understand how the Act would take shape. Many private schools held meetings to discuss the implementation of RTE on Friday.
“RTE should give private schools an opportunity to give something back to the society. What is the point if you simply want to make money? Our school will be ready if the education department asks us to comply,” said Usha Mohan, principal, India International School.
Shanthi Menon, principal, Deens Academy said, “Though we are fine with the implementation of the Act, we are concerned about how to get funds. If admissions are only for class one, then there should be no problem.”
Amol Arora, managing director of Shemrock and Shemford Group of Schools, suggested an alternative. “You cannot put the full fee paying students and the economically weaker section in the same class at the age of 6. Children are not politically correct at that age and words can hurt the psyche of poorer children, who may be subject to insensitive remarks. So, initially schools should run evening or parallel classes to bring the children upto the same standards,” he said.
Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishveshwar Kageri said, “If the private schools face problems in the implementation of the Act, the only way through is to discuss and solve problems.”