GAYA: Axe may fall on 20 private schools of the district for violating the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

The Act makes it mandatory for all schools, except minority unaided (religious and linguistic minorities included), to reserve 25%of seats for children from the disadvantaged sections. Complaints of violation of the Act are rampant. Most of the schools found violating the Act are affiliated to CBSE.

The Act also contains provision for punitive action including disaffiliation in case schools do not offer the stipulated percentage of seats to the poor. The violation of the RTE Act was brought to the notice of Magadh division commissioner Jitendra Srivastava on Monday.

He received several complaints against private schools regarding this issue following which he sought a status report from the district education officer (

).

The DEO has been asked to submit schoolwise details of admissions taken. The commissioner’s stand has unnerved several private

school

managers. According to US Prasad, SAHODAYA chairman, the association of CBSE affiliated schools, which has 45 schools as members, “RTE was by and large being implemented. Not ruling out some aberrations and cases of violation of the Act by some schools,”

Prasad

said there were certain ambiguities in the Act and schools need specific instruction on eligibility criteria including geographical location of the beneficiaries. It was also not were clear whether the Act is applicable only for admission to Class I or even at the nursery or kinder garden-level. The DEO has convened a meeting of the private schools. “The meet will be held on Haridas Seminary premises on Wednesday,” said Prasad.

Some social activists have demanded regulatory mechanism to save the guardians from virtual extortion at the hands of school management, which, of late, has been resorting to frequent and indiscriminate hike in tuition fee and other hidden charges.

A ban on selling of books, stationery by private schools and brand specific instructions to guardians on the purchase of shoes, belts, winter wear, sports wear etc has also been demanded.