BENGALURU: Even a month after the allotment of seats under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, some private schools in the city have still not given admission to students. This comes despite the Commissioner for Public Instruction asking school managements to immediately admit such children under RTE.
In one such case, a school located in Ulsoor admitted only five students under the RTE and denied admission to three. The total number of students allotted to this school under the RTE quota is eight. Mazhar Khan, a parent, said, "We received a message from the Department of Public Instruction about the seat allotment a month ago and we approached the school the same day. The school authorities, however, sent us back saying that they had not received any communication from the department. We went back after two days but we were told that the school had already taken in five students under the RTE."
The parents then approached the Block Education Officer (BEO) concerned, who instructed the school to admit the children immediately. However, the school management did not abide by the order. Khan added, "We were forced to meet the Commissioner of Public Instruction who also issued an order instructing the school to give admission immediately. But the school did nothing about it."
Director of Primary Education, Department of Public Instruction, Basavaraju said, "Each school admits RTE students in its lowest class, be it LKG or Class 1. Though this school took in RTE students the last time for LKG, this year it informed us through SATS that its lowest class is Class 1. (The department has allotted seats as per the data fed into the student attendance tracking system or SATS.) Now it cannot deny admission to these students who have applied for Class 1."
The school authorities were unavailable for comment.
In another case, a top school in Rajajinagar denied admissions to 20 out of 40 students who were allotted seats under the RTE quota. Here, the officials at the block level are safeguarding the school by getting these children admitted at other schools in the locality.
The parents approached the RTE Task Force on Monday. Nagasimnha G Rao of RTE Task Force said, "At least 20 students have approached us saying that the school has denied admissions and the BEO office is asking these students to get admitted at other schools in the same area. How can these officials get the students admission in other schools under RTE when the seats are not allotted at those schools?"
One of the parents said, "I opted for a school that I wanted for my child and we even got the seat under RTE. But now the school is denying admission. And instead of initiating action against them, the officials are asking us to choose another school which I do not want to send my kid to."When contacted, the department officials said they will get a detailed report and initiate action.