[ JAIPUR: The stringent provisions of the Right to Education Act 2010, making it mandatory for all to produce income certificate, caste certificate, BPL card and birth certificate, have now claimed a few innocent victims: orphaned children. Schools are not admitting them as they want documents which orphaned children can never produce.
Although the schools are willing to admit such children, the RTE Act, which provides for 25% seats for economically weaker sections in private schools, has also made it mandatory for all children to produce income certificate of parents, caste certificate, BPL card and birth certificate.
For the past 20 days, the Jaipur-based Ashrya Care Home's superintendent Sushila Morthiya has been running from pillar to post to admit two children to private schools. In her child care home, which is housed in a marriage garden premises in the Chitrakoot area of the city, 22 orphaned children are lodged.
One of the children is a 3- year-old, who was abandoned by parents and was brought to the childcare home by the police. Later on when the HIV test was conducted, the boy was tested positive.
Morthiya said, "The boy has no caste certificate, no income certificate, no birth certificate and BPL card. I am trying hard to get him admitted to a school under RTE Act. Since the schools are demanding such documents, all my efforts went in vain." She claimed that she had met school principals and higher officials of the education department but no one has answers to her queries.
When asked about the provision of the RTE regarding documents, education minister Brij Kishore Sharma said: "It is compulsory for all to submit the documents to get admission under RTE. Without such documents, no one can take benefit of the RTE." When asked how an orphan can submit such documents, he said he would look into the matter.
District education officer, Jaipur, Shiv Charan Meena said: "Unlike SCs, STs, BPL, disabled, there is no separate category mentioned for orphans in RTE. So, we have sought guidelines from the government on what documents orphans shall produce to get the benefit of RTE."
Meena had written a letter to the primary education %department on April 18, seeking directions and is waiting for a reply.
Times View
This is an obvious case of a lacuna in the RTE. Obviously, the legislative didn't want children with parents to be kept out of the benefits of RTE. If this problem can be dealt with by administrative orders or rules framed under the Act, that should be done pronto. If not, an amendment must be made to the Act at the earliest. In that event, we would expect all parties to cooperate with the government for a quick passage of the amendment. Time is of the essence in whatever action is taken since any delay the most vulnerable children would be denied the benefits of this landmark legislation in the coming academic year.
http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/12860724.cms
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