The Karnataka Unaided School Management’s Association (KUSMA) has threatened to refuse admission under the Right to Education (RTE) Act quota in this academic year until the government heeds to their demand.
In a letter to Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, the Commissioner for Public Instruction, the Principal Secretary of Primary and Secondary education, KUSMA has said that they would admit students under the 25 per cent quota only after seats are filed up in government schools in the neighbourhood, schools run by the local authority and aided private schools.
Non-implementationRaising 22 points, the member schools pointed out that the quota cannot be implemented strictly in areas where good government schools are operating, resulting in lesser demand for seats in private unaided schools.
“If the RTE law were interpreted to mean compulsory enrolment of the full 25 per cent reservation irrespective of availability of such children, thousands of schools across the country would have to shut down,” the letter states.
The RTE Act cannot be implemented by the government in a manner that existing government schools and schools run by local authorities are weakened, it said.
Private unaided schoolsThe letter states that private unaided schools constitute 16 per cent of the total schools in the state.
In response, Commissioner for Public Instruction Mohammad Mohsin said that as per Section 12 (1) (c) of the RTE Act, private unaided schools have to fill the 25 per cent of the quota.
Sources in the department alleged that private schools are trying to wash away responsibility from implementing the reservation clause.