BHUBANESWAR: With several private schools ignoring the 25 per cent quota for poor students in entry-level classes under Right to Education Act, the School and Mass Education Department has come out with comprehensive guidelines for such institutions.
At a meeting held here on Friday, the department decided that private schools will not be provided any reimbursement from the State Government for admission of students under 25 per cent (pc) quota if the school management has taken any Government help like land, furniture, financial aid under MPLAD or MLA LAD. They will have to teach the students from weaker sections of society free of cost. Prior to this decision, several private schools claimed reimbursement against the quota admissions from the respective District Education Officers.
Private schools would function as neighbourhood schools for such children staying within a distance of one km. If the seats remain vacant, schools can admit poor students from habitations situated beyond the neighbourhood distance. Of the 25 pc, 15 pc seats are to be filled up with students belonging to disadvantaged groups and 10 pc with children belonging to weaker sections of society. Of the 15 pc quota for disadvantaged group, 10 pc will be reserved for children belonging to SC, ST and OBC categories and five pc for children without homes.
The guidelines were sent to Collectors of all districts. All private non-minority unaided schools have been asked to prepare details of entry-level classes and intake capacity and submit them to district-level education committees after the admission process is over.
Schools must also ensure that the intake seats are displayed on their notice boards.
The decisions were lauded by president of Yuva Shakti Basudev Bhatta, who had been petitioning the School and Mass Education Department over non-implementation of RTE guidelines by private school managements for the last three years.