While welcoming the Government’s move to streamline admissions under the 25 per cent quota mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, activists and NGOs have sought clarity on certain provisions.
Representatives from the Forum for Right to Education, TN Forces, and Tamil Nadu Child Rights Observatory said there must also be provisions on what schools must do in case there are vacant seats beyond the prescribed schedule. They said there must be clear guidelines and a redressal mechanism to ensure that children admitted under the quota are not discriminated against. They also said the 25 per cent seats allotted should include both disadvantaged groups and weaker sections of society so that the provision benefits marginalised sections of society.
As per Tamil Nadu’s rules for implementing the Act, any child whose parent or guardian’s annual income is less than Rs. 2 lakh can be admitted under ‘weaker section’. The ‘disadvantaged group’ comprises students belonging to SC, ST, BC, MBC categories, in addition to children with HIV, children with disability, children of scavengers or of the transgender community.
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