Dipti Sonawala : Mumbai, Thu May 24 2012, 04:01 hrs
A police complaint was filed by an NGO against Vibgyor High School in Goregaon on Wednesday for allegedly violating the Right To Education (RTE) Act. Activist Avisha Kulkarni of NGO Desh Seva Samiti (DSS) alleged that the school denied admission to eight students from economically weaker section (EWS).
On Wednesday, Kulkarni along with a few other activists from DSS and eight students approached the school authorities seeking admission. She alleged that the school refused to accept their application and did not even allow them into the campus. Kulkarni’s daughter Adishree had been expelled from the same school in 2010 after Kulkarni filed a police complaint against the school and protested against what she said was an arbitrary increase in fees in 2009.
“We were made to wait for more than an hour outside the school. Later, the manager of the school asked us to leave the premises and informed us that admission will not be given to these students as Vibgyor High is a minority school. However, as per my knowledge Vibgyor High is not a minority school and I have a letter from the state government supporting this,” said Kulkarni.
“We were left with no options but to file a police complaint against the school and its manager. Even two years after the Act came into force, the rules are being violated by the schools. Schools often give excuses such as not having proper guidelines to follow the Act. However, even the government is to be blamed for not taking cognisance of private schools violating the rules. The state government is also delaying the process of framing proper guidelines on the implementation of the Act,” added Kulkarni.
“When we first heard about the Act we were very happy. It is not in our capacity to send our kids to good quality private schools but the Act came as a ray of hope to many like us. However, the way we were denied admission at Vibgyor High School on Wednesday, I don’t think this is going to be easy,” said Tushar Naik, one of the parents.
Another parent Malti Salvi said, “When the government has introduced 25 per cent reservation, how can schools violate it? Is the RTE Act just an eyewash?”
Rustom Kerawalla, founder and chairman of Vibgyor High, said: “I am out of town and have no idea about what happened in the school. In that case neither me nor any other official of the school would want to comment on the issue.”
“Any underprivileged child aspiring to study in a good private school cannot be denied admission. We are not targeting any one school, in fact, this is part of our campaign to ensure that every underprivileged child can get the benefit of the Act. We will be approaching other schools too after this,” said Kulkarni.
“We have registered a non-cognisable complaint for now. However, it is a civil matter and we have asked the complainant to take up the matter with the education department,” said Sub-Inspector Dhananjay Kawade from Goregaon police station.
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