The Right to Education (RTE) Task Force will bring together parents, schools and other stakeholders in a maiden public hearing on RTE scheduled to be held in the second week of January.
Overwhelmed by more than 2,000 queries about RTE from parents and many private schools, the task force in its public hearing will focus on issues arising out of the 25 per cent clause, readiness of teachers and schools in implementing RTE and instances of corporal punishment in schools.
Task Force convener Nagasimha G Rao said many city-based private schools had approached it over a section of the RTE rules that asks schools to provide pre-primary bridge to children. At the same time, the Constitution mandates that formal elementary education should begin from the age of six, leaving schools confused, he added.
Parents from Ramanagaram, Kanakapura, Devanahalli and other rural areas have demanded an alteration in the one-kilometer restriction on “neighbourhood schools” boundary. “Parents want this changed as they do not have a private school in the radius of three km,” Rao said. Also, parents, whose children could not get admitted under the RTE this year, are hopeful of admissions for the academic year 2013-14, Rao added. The admissions start January 2013 onwards.