Representatives of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (MDMK) on Thursday staged a protest at the office of the Chief Education Officer in Coimbatore, seeking implementation of a single window system for admissions in private schools under the Right To Education (RTE) Act.
State student’s wing secretary of the party V. Eswaran said that such a system was in vogue in Maharashtra and New Delhi.
Mr. Eswaran alleged inaction by the School Education Department, and the State Government in the irregularities in private schools in enrolling students under RTE. He said that the department did not take any action on the allegations against schools misusing RTE last year.
Cheating
“Last year we submitted a 135 page document on the irregularities in enrolling 280 students in six private schools in the LKG under RTE. Those schools had cheated the government by admitting children from well to do families under RTE. They even collected money from the parents and the government as well,” he said.
He added that representations were sent to the Education Minister, Secretary for school education, director of matriculation schools, Chief Education Officer, and the district administration, but no action was taken.
This year, 2,645 students have been enrolled in 233 private schools in the district under the RTE.
Mr. Eswaran said that the details of the parents should be verified before compensating the schools. Strong action should be taken against the institutions, if malpractices were found.
They called of the protest after the School Education Department officials promised to take up the matter with their higher ups in Chennai.
They said that they would stage a series of protests if they did not get a reply in two weeks.
