Over 80 pc private schools in Delhi not participating in implementation of RTE: Report

A new report Wednesday said over 80 per cent of the private schools in Delhi are not participating in the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act and are also not reserving 25 per cent seats for students from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).

The report titled "Bright Spots: Status of Social Inclusion through RTE" is based on a survey having over 10,000 respondents and conducted by Indus Action, an NGO working in the education sector.

Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 aims to improve social inclusion and enable school choice by reserving a minimum of 25 per cent of all entry-level seats in private, unaided, non-minority and special category schools for children from EWS and Disadvantaged Groups (DG).

The survey pointed out that while states were not publishing data related to monitoring of children admitted to schools, there were five states and Union Territories (UTs), which were yet to notify the provision.

"Thirteen states and UTs do not have readily available information on the number of students in schools under this provision," the report said.

The report will be officially launched tomorrow by Indus Action in collaboration with PVR Nest where its insights will be shared followed by a panel discussion on "Social Inclusion".

The report pointed out that one of the reasons behind the lack of policy implementation is that income limits are exclusionary in some states with some states having a limit lower than the minimum wage of the state, while some others only consider BPL families under EWS.

"There is also ambiguity over the definition of free education. Some schools continue to charge ancillary fees which is burdensome on the beneficiary parents and guardians.

"While there is lack of policy clarity on students' future after passing Class 8, document requirements like 'Aadhaar' and certain others have excluded sections of the beneficiary population including children from migrant populations, children of single mothers, among others," the report said.