Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam (MMI) on Wednesday, April 20, has appealed to the Tamil Nadu State Government to bring some regulations in the admission for the 25 per cent seats reserved in LKG and Class I in private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act to benefit the eligible children who belong to Economically Weaker Sections.
In his press release, MMI coordinator V Eswaran said, "Some parents who are rich in backward class try to admit their kids in private schools under the 25 per cent admission quota with the support of school management. Particularly, admission is denied to eligible students who belong to SC/ST category and who come from Economically Weaker Sections. To avoid this, the government should bring regulations to streamline admissions for Economically Weaker Section students from both SC and ST communities at schools."
"Besides, the private schools deny admission if a student's home is located more than a one-kilometre radius from the school. In practice, there are no habitations within a one or two kilometres radius of the private schools in the rural parts. As a result, the eligible students in rural parts cannot apply for this admission. Considering it, the norm of one kilometre should be extended to three kilometres,' he mentioned in his release.
He pointed out that a few states extended the norm of three kilometres from one. "As per the RTE Act, this admission system should have been implemented in all private schools. But the CBSE and other board schools in the state refuse to do so. State government should include the list of CBSE and other Board schools under the RTE admission," he urged. He alleged that after admitting kids under RTE admission, private schools are collecting tuition fees and other fees from the parents, violating norms and the government should take stringent action against such schools.
