The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has issued a circular stating that no school can ask a child studying under the RTE quota to discontinue classes until he or she completes elementary education. This comes in the wake of complaints from parents that private schools are asking their children to take a transfer certificate to another school.
Though the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 clearly mandates that students under the RTE quota can complete class VIII, many parents had complained that managements were removing children from the rolls as they had not scored well in tests conducted by the school.
The RTE task force, a non-governmental organisation, too had received several complaints from parents stating that they were left in the lurch as some schools had asked them to take a transfer certificate.
Nagasimha G. Rao, convener of the RTE task force, pointed out that Section 16 of the Act states that no child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled till completion of elementary education. “Despite rules being very clear, schools are trying to manipulate the system and escape from providing 25% reservation,” he said.
Mr. Rao added that several groups of parents were being mobilised to ensure that students admitted under the quota have access to education till class ten. “The Act stipulates education till class eight. This has raised anxiety among many parents as they are unsure of where their children who complete class eight under the quota this year will go for the 2020-2021 academic year,” he said.
