Maharashtra: ‘School said complain to anyone you want, even CM’

Admission in private schools under the RTE Actrsquos reservation for the economically weaker section is not guaranteed A case from Kolhapur districtrsquos Gadhinglaj city is proof of that A CBSE school there broke two rules at one gomdashfirst it demanded fees and then refused admission when the applicantrsquos father could not payAccording to the state government rules 25 per cent seats at private and public schools are reserved for students from economically weaker sections EWS who are entitled to free education under the RTE Act The government pays up to Rs 17000 per student annually until she is promoted to Std VIIIIn Gadhinglaj Ganpat Gaikwad had got confirmation of his daughterrsquos free admission in Sarvodaya Vivek Jeevan Vidya Public School However on Monday when he went to enrol her in Std I the administration asked him to pay the full fees The administration told Gaikwad that the school will refund the fees once it receives the amount from the state government Instead of succumbing to demands he approached the state school education department with the help of an NGOAlso Read Maharashtra 16yearold city girl helps power village schoollsquoI was happy butrsquoldquoI was overjoyed when I went to the school to enrol my daughter because it meant she could attend a reputable institution My joy however was shortlived I was informed that she would get admission only if I paid an annual fee of Rs 40000 and signed an undertaking to this effectrdquo Gaikwad told middayThe letter confirming free admission to Ganpat Gaikwadrsquos daughter under the RTE ActHe added ldquoI reminded them that my daughter was eligible for free education because she was assigned to their school through a lottery as part of the RTE quota The management members said that as a charitable organisation they were unable to provide free education They said I could complain to whoever I pleased even the chief ministers office I was in disbelief ldquoI request the government to either deposit the fees to the parentsrsquo account or cancel the licences and permissions to such schools I am sure the school may have rejected many like merdquo the father saidActivists demand actionEducation activists have alleged blatant violations of RTE Act Nitin Dalvi a representative of the Maharashtra Rajya VidyarthiPalak Shikshak Mahasangh said ldquoThis isnt the first time or the first school to violate the RTE norm Schools have been coming up with ways to discreetly evade rules They openly challenge the state government by denying free education under the RTE quota I demand stringent action against such schools In the case of Kolhapur school we have already written to the director of education primaryrdquo Usha Ubale Kolhapur education officer primary told midday ldquoWe received the message about the case on Tuesday morning and I have instructed the group education officer of the zone to visit the school and take appropriate actionldquoWe will issue a warning and direction to the school to give admission to the child as per the RTE norms If the management still refuses we will register an offence against them Thereafter the procedure to revoke their permission will be initiatedrdquo Ubale added ldquoParents need to come forward and report the RTE violations with the localblock education officers We will take action In most cases people are unaware of the rules and approach the education deputy director and director in Mumbai or Pune directlyrdquo she said Anuja Belgudari the administrative director of the school did not respond to middayrsquos calls and messages for comment