BENGALURU: It was recently announced that applications for seats in schools under the Right to Education (RTE) quota would go online from the academic year 2015-16. But Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Ratnakar has claimed he was not informed about the move.
The online admission process to private unaided colleges under the quota was to begin on January 18, but fell flat on day one due to technical glitches.
According to sources, it will take at least another month to resolve all the issues. However, the last date for submitting applications under RTE is February 19.
Ratnakar said on Thursday that the principal secretary to the department Rajkumar Katri has been on leave for a month. “I did not know anything about the online process. The commissioner directly implemented it and it was not discussed with me. I will meet the secretary and settle the issue once he is back,” he said.
He said he wanted to convene a meeting on Thursday but could not as the commissioner for public instruction too was on leave. “But whatever the issue, we will solve it soon,” he said.
In the meantime, member-schools of the Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (KUSMA) should accept applications under RTE, the minister said. KUSMA had recently announced that its 1,800-plus members would not accept online RTE quota applications.
Ratnakar said, “No one is above the government and every school should receive the applications. The same law will apply to the schools associated with KUSMA.”
Test for Teachers
The Karnataka State Teachers’ Eligibility Test (KSTET) for 2015-16 will be held after the CET for those who have qualified in KSET-2014 is held. Ratnakar said a notification on this will be released in a week or two, and computer science and English will be mandatory subjects.
GETTING IT RIGHT
Ratnakar spoke to reporters after a meeting with the Textbook Review Committee in the city. These were his directions to the panel:
■ All textbooks should fall within the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
■ The revised textbooks will be for 2016-17 and therefore, there should be no urgency in the department on this front and no mistakes as well.
■ A tender for this will be called after August and the content should be ready by this time.
■ All complaints should be considered.
■ The committee should contact the minister director in case of doubts.