The Tamil Nadu State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (TNSCPCR) has found out that 99 per cent schools have not filled the 25 per cent quota for weaker sections as mandated by the Act.
The violations were noticed during the random inspection of private schools by several teams of the commission to verify admissions under the RTE Act as per the directions of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
TNSCPCR sources told The Hindu that during the inspection many lacunae and irregularities of serious nature in the implementation of the Act came to light.
Ninety nine per cent of the private schools inspected in the State have not filled the 25 per cent quota with students under the RTE Act as per the norms. What has shocked the TNSCPCR member teams is that these schools also seemed to have least respect for the Act.
There have been many violations in the form of discrepancy in the income certificates of the beneficiaries and acts of some schools enriching themselves in the guise of implementing this scheme have come to light. Some of the schools are found to be running more sections than stipulated in the elementary classes without government permission.
Cases of schools getting the reimbursement from the government under the 25 per cent category and at the same time collecting the regular fee from the beneficiaries too has also come to light, the sources said. All the violations noticed in the inspected schools are glaring and were discussed with the collectors of these districts.
Interim report
The direction from the national commission came following serious allegation of malpractices in private schools in the State over RTE admission. An interim report will be submitted in a day or two, sources in the commission said.
A team comprising T. Jayanthi Rani and S. Mowleesaran, both members of TNSCPCR, visited a few well renowned private schools in Salem district recently and verified the records connected with the admission under the above Act during the last three academic years.
The Commission members inspected a number of private schools in 19 districts so far, including Salem, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Madurai and Kancheepuram in the last couple of months. Education Department and District Child Protection Unit officials accompanied them during the inspection. The team visited the schools in Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Kancheepuram and Madurai districts too. Similar teams have completed random inspection of private schools in about 19 districts in the state so far.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 requires all private schools to reserve 25 per cent of the seats for students belonging to the poor, disadvantaged and marginalised sections up to class VIII.
The government reimburses the expenditure incurred for the education of these children.
