RTE: Kageri warns private schools

BANGALORE:  Backed by the Supreme Court ruling that all private aided and unaided schools must comply with the Right to Education (RTE) Act, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on Friday said the government will go all out to implement the Act. In a stern warning to private schools, he said if any schools violate the official calendar of events to avoid accommodating 25 per cent of underprivileged children, then it will be their lookout.The Minister told Express a day after the Supreme Court decree that erring schools will be asked to set aside 25 per cent of the seats for economically weak children regardless of whether they have closed admissions or not. “It is not our concern if they (private schools) fail to adhere to the time table prescribed by the government. We will ask them to take in children from the economically weaker sections, even if they claim that they are done with admissions,” Kageri clarified. “The RTE is a Constitutional Act. Private managements have to comply with this. We had been waiting for the Supreme Court ruling in this regard. Now that things are clear, the onus is on implementing the Act and private schools have to get onboard,” said Kageri.On January 13, the Department of Public Instruction had issued a calendar of events regarding admissions to be followed by private schools. It states that issuing of application forms should commence from April 20 and end on April 30. However, as it turns out, many private schools started admissions in January, forcing parents to rush with the admission process.