Rajasthan govt hauled up for violating RTE Act on pre-primary admissions

State told to respond within seven days, urged to revisit and change recent guidelines which exempt private schools from 25% quota for EWS students

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has said the Congress-ruled Rajasthan government has violated the Right to Education (RTE) Act in the new norms it has recently issued for admissions to pre-primary classes in private schools.

In a letter sent to the secretary of Rajasthan government’s department of school education on Thursday, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo has sought an explanation on the issue within seven days.

Kanoongo recommended that the Rajasthan government re-examine its recent guidelines and make necessary changes in light of the RTE Act, 2009.

The NCPCR chairperson also asked the Rajasthan government that it issue “necessary directions to ensure that there is no loss to the children or their education due to implementation of faulty guidelines by the department”.

Ironically, it was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that had piloted the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which Parliament passed in August 2009. Now, the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan is found to have contravened the law.

The law, via the 86th Constitution Amendment, made education a fundamental right under Article 21A for children between 6 and 14 years. It also provided for 25 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in government-aided private schools.

The new guidelines recently published by Rajasthan government’s Department of Elementary Education have exempted private schools from 25 per cent reservation for EWS students in their pre-primary classes for the academic session 2020-21.

The NCPCR chairperson, in the letter sent to the Rajasthan government, pointed out that the RTE Act specifies that schools will admit, at least 25 per cent of the strength of that class, children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups in the neighbourhood and provide free and compulsory education till its completion.

What is more relevant to the new norms of the Rajasthan government, Kanoongo pointed out that the Act also states that where such a school imparts pre-school education, the provisions shall apply for admission to such pre-school education as well.

“Hence, the point 1 of Chapter 2 of the Guidelines issued by Department of Elementary Education, Rajasthan is in contravention to the provision under the RTE Act, 2009,” Kanoongo stated.

The NCPCR chairperson pointed out other inconsistencies between the Rajasthan government’s guidelines and the RTE Act.

Kanoongo said the RTE Act empowers governments to issue notifications and make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Act. “Therefore, the guidelines or rules issued by the appropriate government should be for carrying out the provisions of the Act. While issuing guidelines or framing rules, any deviation or change in the provision under the Act amounts to violation of the Central Act,” Kanoongo stated.

The NCPCR chief said the Rajasthan government’s guidelines violate the provisions of the RTE Act, “and by doing so the state is not only violating the basic provisions of the Act but also misinterpreting the role and powers of the Appropriate Authorities under the Act”.