Govt appeals to Punjab, three other states to implement RTE

New Delhi, August 7

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The Centre on Wednesday appealed to the state governments to implement the provision of the Right to Education, which mandates 25 per cent of seats for the children from economically weaker sections in private unaided schools.

The state governments such as Punjab, Kerala, Telangana and West Bengal have not implemented RTE provisions mandating the private schools to reserve seats under the RTE Act, Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.

Replying to a question by Congress leader Pramod Tiwary on RTE, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said education comes under the concurrent list and it should be the endeavour of both to provide school education till Class XII for all.

“Nowadays, there is almost 100 per cent enrollment in Class I, this is due to collective efforts of all states,” he said. Pradhan, however, added the number drops as the class progresses. This decline depends on the active steps taken by the respective state governments, he said.

Pradhan said though education comes under the concurrent list, school education is mainly taken care of by the state governments.

Earlier, Vikramjit Singh Sahney of the AAP asked the number of children covered under RTE and the steps taken by the government. Replying to it, Chaudhary said RTE was passed in 2009 and it is an inclusive plan for the kids from poor family. — PTI