CHENNAI : School Education Minister KA Sengottaiayn on Tuesday said the Tamil Nadu government would bring in an amendment to the Right to Education rules (RTE) to give priority to government schools over private schools in making RTE admissions. This would be on the lines of the amendment effected in Karnataka in December last year.
Intervening in the speech of CVMP Ezhilarasan (DMK) during the discussion on the demands for grants for the School Education department in the Assembly, the minister said the issue was being examined and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami would take a decision soon after consulting the Cabinet.
Earlier, Ezhilarasan said though the RTE Act did not mention whether the children should seek admission either in government school or in a private school, in most cases, children were admitted to private schools. This has ultimately reduced the admission to the government schools which will eventually face closure. Hence, the government should upgrade its schools which should be given priority while making RTE admissions.
The minister said that so far, 4,83,902 children were admitted under RTE Act since 2013-14 and the government had reimbursed `644.69 crore towards this purpose. Sengottaiyan also asserted that the government would stand by the two-language policy.