RTE: All schools to make space for EWS students

Express news service : Pune, Thu Jun 14 2012, 04:56 hrs

All schools from this year will have to fill 25 per cent of their seats with students from economically weaker sections (EWS) and this includes even those schools that have completed their admission procedure, said Deputy Director of Education, Ramchandra Jadhav, (additional charge).

He added that strict action will be taken against schools that do not implement the Right to Education (RTE) guidelines. All schools will need to display the lists of students of general and financially weaker categories. However, no deadline has been set for the schools to implement the guidelines and they can admit students throughout the year, added Jadhav.

"Many schools have been trying to ignore RTE guidelines by saying that they are minority unaided schools. However, after visiting all the schools our committee came up with a list of approximately 40 schools across the city that come under this category. Schools other than these will also have to implement the guideline as soon as possible,"

Jadhav said.

When asked if schools have the required infrastructure to accommodate 25 per cent extra students, he said, "It is just for a year that the schools will have to accommodate these extra students and it should not be that difficult. From next year, schools will have to make provisions from the start itself for such students."

The board will also hold a meeting of all school principals on Saturday to discuss ways to implement the guidelines. "There are many schools that say the guidelines are not clear to them. We will try to discuss the guidelines so that they are clear to everyone and implementing them is not difficult for any school," said Jadhav.