Schools heave sigh of relief, CM favours RTE extension

Delhi schools heaved a sigh of relief and welcomed the decision of the Delhi High Court, which made it clear that there was no stopping the nursery admission process currently underway.

In first comments, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: "We are going through the order. The government is considering options." She said personally she would like the ambit of the Right to Education Act expanded to include children under the age of six.

Ameeta M Wattal, principal of Springdales School and vice-chairperson of National Progressive Schools Conference, said: "We support the court order, the autonomy of schools has to be maintained." She said had there been any delay in the order, it would have been a big issue for parents.

With the High Court ruling that the RTE Act does not apply to nursery except the provision to reserve 25 per cent seats for the economically weaker sections, Madhulika Sen, chairperson of the Forum of Public Schools, said "that is what we have been saying all this while that the RTE does not apply to nursery and KG."

Sen also raised the point of autonomy of private unaided schools and said "the other 75 per cent should be left to us". She said the forum held a meeting on Tuesday.

The petitioners, on the other hand, called the order "a partial victory". Ashok Agarwal, counsel for petitioner Social Jurist NGO, said they will move the Supreme Court in the next two weeks regarding extension of the RTE.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/schools-heave-sigh-of-relief-cm-favours-rte-extension/1076670/

Sheila steps in: Won’t let schools shut down, may extend deadline

As more than 2,200 schools facing closure drew up a protest calendar for the next two months to oppose the move, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday clarified that schools would not be shut down even if they do not meet the requirements of the Right To Education Act.

Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express, Dikshit said her government "will consider giving them (schools) more time if they want".

She said she had been told about the problem only recently and the schools would be given a year or two to meet RTE standards. She said even if these schools did not have the best facilities, "at least students are studying somewhere".

"The education of a child is more important than rules," Dikshit said in response to a question.

The RTE Act lays down certain parameters for all schools. The Act also specifies a time limit of three years "from the time of the implementation of the Act" for school managements to upgrade facilities. That time limit ends on March 31.

An umbrella body called the Delhi State Private Schools Association (DSPSA) recently said that "some of the provisions of the RTE are against the weaker section of society". They were seeking extension of the time limit, stating that they neither have more subsidised land for expansion of the school premises nor the resources since these schools are run in slums and smaller localities and charge a nominal fee from students.

According to the section 18(5) of the RTE Act, after March 31, 2013, schools that are not recognised will be liable for a one-time penalty of Rs 1 lakh and a fine of Rs 10,000 per day.

Many schools may not be regularised because they do not meet land norm requirements to be recognised as primary schools. According to DSPSA, nearly 4.75 lakh students will be affected if these schools are shut down.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sheila-steps-in-won-t-let-schools-shut-down-may-extend-deadline/1073747/0

RTE only for 6-14 age group: Govt

Nursery admission No bar on screening procedure by schools for students below age 6: Govt to HC

The Central government informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the Right to Education Act applies only to "elementary education" which is defined in the Act as education from Class I to Class VIII. Provisions of the RTE, the government said, are available only to children in the age group 6 to 14 years and do not affect primary education.

"There is no bar on a screening procedure by a school for students under six years of age," the government counsel said in response to a specific question put by the bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice V K Jain.

The government filed an affidavit after it was asked by the High Court whether admission to the nursery class was regulated by the RTE Act.

The High Court has been hearing arguments on a PIL challenging two notifications by the Central government and the Delhi government allowing schools to formulate their own criteria for admission to the nursery class. The admission process has been stalled due to the pendency of the petition. The High Court had remarked that the admission process for 2013-14 could be affected by its final decision on the petition.

The government affidavit stated that "there are certain provisions of the Act, which relate to children below six years and beyond 14 years. These specific provisions, however, are those related to drop-out children and children from economically weaker sections."

The government affidavit also mentions Section 11 of the RTE that speaks about pre-primary education for children above three years of age. The HRD Ministry affidavit says that state governments "may have their own policies governing admissions in pre-primary class".

Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra also told the court that the Delhi School Education Act and notifications issued under the Act were there to regulate pre-primary education in Delhi.

"The affidavit is quiet on the question raised by the court about the utilisation of Section 13 in the Act. The HRD Ministry passed the buck to the state government to see the applicability in the last paragraph of the affidavit," advocate Ashok Aggarwal said. Court said it will pass its order by next week.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rte-only-for-614-age-group-govt/1073751/0