Pvt schools not following RTE norms, finds study

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

The state government has by and large failed to ensure admission of children belonging to poor and other sections of the society to private schools under the Right to Education Act.

This came to light following a study regarding the implementation of the RTE Act in private schools. The study was funded by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

Under the Act, all children between 6 and 14 year of age are to be given free and compulsory education at neighbourhood schools. The state government issued a notification in 2010 to implement the Act.

The study says the government prefers to first fill seats in government and government-aided schools and only then in non-aided private schools. However, parents prefer private schools to government schools. For taking admission under the RTE Act, one has to take written approval from the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan office.

Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth, Director of the Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies, Armtisar, who piloted the study, says there were more than 9,300 private schools in the state. As many as 1,170 private schools had been closed for non-compliance with the RTE norms and the process of de-recognition and closure of 219 such schools had been in progress.

Most of the private schools were neither following any uniform curriculum nor having proper infrastructure. There was no accountability on student-teacher ratio in these schools, which ultimately hit standard of education.

Point out the flaws, study says the Director General School Education (DGSE) is responsible for regulating and monitoring the implementation of the RTE Act. But it has no staff at the state and district levels to effectively monitor the implementation of the Act by private school. It has to depend on self-declaration forms filed by the schools concerned.

The DGSE office, study says, did not cooperate in studying the issue. Data has to be taken from it using the Right to Information Act. The study says about 48 per cent teachers in private schools were under-qualified. Majority of schoolteachers in private schools get salary in the range of Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000, which is less than the prescribed wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Their exploitation is unending.

It has been recommended that proper rules should be framed to implement the RTE Act in consultation with all stakeholders, including community leaders, teachers, and school managements. The government should ensure complete transparency in the functioning of private schools and also the DGSE office. The DGSE should be empowered to take strict action against the managements of private schools in case of their failure to implement the RTE Act properly.