The police have arrested as many as 33 members of the Students Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the All Indian Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) affiliated to the CPM, for staging a protest in front of the office of the Chief Educational Officer (CEO) in Coimbatore on Monday.
During the protest, the members of SFI, DYFI and AIDWA urged the officials in the School Education Department to take action against the private schools that are demanding fees from students admitted under the 25 per cent Right to Education (RTE) Act quota, and against those who are collecting more than the fees prescribed by the government from the students.
The protestors also demanded that rather than close government schools, the authorities should take steps to improve the infrastructure in the schools in the state.
Since the protestors did not have permission to stage the protest in front of the CEO’s office here, the police arrested 33 members, including eight women. They were released in the evening.
During the grievance meeting at the Collectorate here, on Monday, members of the Adhi Tamilar Katchi submitted a petition seeking action against the private schools that were not filling up the 25 per cent quota of seats under the RTE Act.
In the petition, the Adhi Tamilar Katchi members mentioned that CBSE and ICSE schools in the district were not admitting students under RTE. “In several private schools, the names of the students from weaker sections are not being included when making a selection through the lot system. Hence, the district administration officials should ensure that the 25 per cent RTE seats are filled in all the schools in the district,” the protestors said.
