Mumbai: Majority of schools in violation of RTE gain recognition

Amid the ongoing controversy regarding 218 schools in the city operating without Right to Education RTE recognition Minister of School Education Deepak Kesarkar provided an update during the ongoing assembly session on Wednesday Responding to the queries of the legislators Kesarkar said that 192 out of the 218 schools violating RTE regulations have now been granted recognition while seven of the remaining schools have been closed downThe Child Rights Commission and education activists have meanwhile questioned the state government on why no action was taken against these violations for so many years highlighting concerns about oversight and accountability in the education system Under RTE 25 per cent of the total seats are reserved for the socioeconomically weaker sections of society The schools are expected to provide free education to these children and claim reimbursement from the Centre as well as state governmentsAlso the act requires all schools to adhere to 10 infrastructure standards such as a compound wall toilets drinking water playgrounds etc Every three years the schools must apply for an extensionrenewal of recognition or accreditation Following the RTE Actrsquos introduction a schoolrsquos recognition is only renewed if it has met these 10 standardsFailing to get the renewal schools could be fined Rs 10000 per day until they meet the norms and for running the school in the absence of recognition The management of these schools will also have to pay a penalty of Rs 1 lakh The BMC is the statutory body issuing the recognition certificate for primary schoolsAccording to BMC officials 218 schools had failed to renew their RTE recognition as far back as 2016 Some schools applied after the given deadline and were gradually granted recognition During the ongoing assembly session 32 legislators raised a query regarding this issue In response Minister of School Education Deepak Kesarkar clarified the situationldquoUnder Section 18 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and as per the provision of Rule 11 4 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules 2011 it is mandatory to obtain the RTE Approval Certificate Index2 from the office of the Education Officer of the concerned districtrdquoProviding an update Kesarkar added ldquoOf the 218 schools on the list 192 have already managed to obtain RTE recognition For the remaining 26 schools the renewal process for 19 is currently underway while seven schools have shut downrdquoThe Child Rights Commission and education activists have questioned why no action was taken against these violations for so many years raising concerns about oversight and accountability within the statersquos education system ldquoThese schools did not have RTE recognition for years According to the rules they must obtain RTE recognition and renew it every three years We have repeatedly sought explanations and action reports Now suddenly all these schools have obtained recognitionrdquo said an officialNitin Dalvi President of the NGO Maharashtra Rajya Vidyarthi Palak Shikshak Mahasangh who filed the complaint said ldquoThis is akin to a person involved in a scam who after being on the run for years returns and gets bail on the basis that he has reformed Similarly these schools were supposed to pay fines or penalties as stipulated under the act for operating without RTE recognition However none of this happened and now they have managed to obtain and renew their recognition What kind of coverup is thisrdquoAn official from the BMC education department justified the schoolsrsquo actions and explained the process ldquoThe process of applying for and obtaining RTE recognition is lengthy and timeconsuming It poses a logistical challenge for our department to thoroughly check and verify each proposal with our existing staff and resourcesAdditionally schools cannot be entirely blamed Yes it is true that some of these schools delayed their applications and submitted them after the deadline However just because they do not have RTE recognition does not mean they should be called unauthorised We also have to consider the students studying in these schools before taking any punitive actionrdquo