The RTE Students and Parents Association, which runs several centres across the city to help parents file applications for their children under the RTE quota, pulled out of an agreement it had reached with an NGO to share data. The association took this decision after it came under criticism from parents and school managements.
The association had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the non-government organisation, Indus Action, to expand RTE outreach programmes. The MoU stated that the NGO had the right to use the data collected from centres in public interest for advocacy, but could not misuse the information. The association has 32 centres in Bengaluru and one each in Shivamogga, Mandya and Mangaluru.
Several parents argued that it was an infringement of their right to privacy. A parent, who had approached the association seeking help in filing application for his son for class one, said: “We do not want our name and number being shared with another private party.”
D. Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said there was a need for the local education department authorities to carry out an inquiry to see if any data had been shared. When contacted, association chief secretary B.N. Yogananda said they would cancel the MoU if parents saw it as a problem. “So far, the association has not shared any data with the NGO, and we have also not received any financial support from it,” said Mr. Yogananda.
H. Ramesh, entrepreneur, Indus Action, told The Hindu that the MOU was no longer valid.
This controversy comes after the Department of Primary and Secondary Education cancelled an MoU with a private company, which had stated that the personal details of parents of students in government, aided, and private schools and PU colleges would be shared.
