Two private schools in the city are in the dock for allegedly misleading a parent on admission for his six-year-old son under the Right to Education (RTE) quota.
A formal inquiry was conducted by Bangalore North-2 block education officer on Monday.
On February 14, Gurubasaiah (34) who works in a medical shop in Yeshwantpur, approached Raja Rajeshwari School and Children’s Education Centre in the same area for a Class 1 seat under the RTE quota. His application was received by both schools.
Gurubasaiah waited for one whole month and found, to his shock, that his son had not made it to the final admission list.
“The schools announced their lists in March and my son’s name was missing. When I approached the schools for a clarification, the authorities told me that the entry point for RTE admission was LKG. I applied in these schools because I was told that the entry point was Class 1,” Gurubasaiah said at the inquiry.
Monday’s inquiry was the result of a directive from the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), which acted on a complaint from Nagasimha G Rao, convenor, RTE Task Force.
“I welcome the inquiry, but it is too late. I filed the complaint on April 4 and the inquiry happened now!,” Gurubasaiah rued.
Gurubasaiah, a Veerashaiva Lingayat, has an annual income of Rs 48,000, way below the RTE limit of Rs 3.5 lakh. But tired and desperate after being turned away by the two schools, he managed to get his son admitted into Class 1 in Cambridge English School in non-RTE quota.
The Raja Rajeshwari School was notified to earmark 50 seats for RTE quota. However, the entry point for admissions was LKG and not Class 1.
“We accepted the application as the parent forced us to acknowledge it. We told him that the entry level was LKG,” said H S Sreenath, secretary of this school that still has 42 seats vacant.
The Children’s Education Centre, which had 14 seats earmarked for LKG, also took the same stance during the inquiry.
Meena Kumari, a teacher representing the school, said the parent had forced the school to accept his application.
Bangalore North-2 BEO K G Anjinappa said a report would be submitted to the Department of Public Instruction for action against the schools if they are found guilty.