The children of a Dalit couple, hailing from a poor economic background, were allegedly denied admissions under the Right to Education Act by a popular private matriculation school located in Tirumangalam here.
P. Kutti Kamatchi (30), whose husband works as a casual labourer, said that she tried for admission at the school for his son and daughter for Class 1 and LKG respectively.
“When I approached the school last week, they bluntly rejected saying that they were not admitting anyone under RTE Act,” Mr. Kamatchi alleged, adding that they demanded a capitation fee of about Rs. 5,000 per child for immediate admission.
“They told me that they had not received the refund of fee from the government last year for the children admitted under the RTE Act. Hence, they were not admitting anyone under the RTE Act now,” she said.
Ms. Kamatchi claimed that when she contacted the authorities at the office of the Inspector of Matriculation Schools (IMS) in Madurai, she was suggested to apply in other schools in their neighbourhood.
“When I said I wanted to apply for another popular school in the area, the officials said that admissions might be already over in that school,” she alleged.
A. Rajini, advocate and convener of People’s Movement for Social Justice, said that the situation was not different in most other private schools which allegedly denied admissions under the RTE Act citing frivolous reasons. “They may give reasons like the residence of the child is far from the school. The tendency is to reject the applications instead of accommodating more students from deprived backgrounds,” he said.
When contacted, IMS of Madurai P. Srinivasamurthy, said he would inquire into it soon.
