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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Bengal’s class bias: don’t blame RTE

Bengal’s class bias: don’t blame RTE

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published Published on Dec 22, 2011   modified Modified on Dec 22, 2011
-The Telegraph
 
The Right to Education (RTE) Act does not bar any child from outside the “neighbourhood” to participate in the lottery system for admission to schools — contrary to what the Bengal government has been claiming.

The enforcement of such a radius rule yesterday had triggered a near-riot in a Malda school that cited a government directive and disallowed applicants who reside beyond 1km from participating in a draw.

State governments are free to enforce their own admission rules — an inherent right that the central Right to Education Act also acknowledges.

However, where the Bengal government appears to have slipped up is in trying to pass off the radius rule — widely seen as impractical and self-defeating — as a mandatory requirement imposed by the central law.

In fact, the state government appears to have selectively interpreted a clause in the central law that requires local authorities to build more schools in three years so that every child will have an institute within walking distance. (See chart)

The relevant section says that “for children in classes I-V, a school shall be established within a walking distance of one km of the neighbourhood”. For pupils in Class VI-VIII, schools should be established within 3km.

In another section (Section 10 which follows the earlier two clauses), the central law says it is the “duty” of parents to enrol their wards in schools in the neighbourhood. It is clear that the act is referring to the obligation of parents to send children once neighbourhood schools are in place.

In the central act, The Telegraph could not find any reference that said no child outside a certain radius should be disallowed from seeking admission to any school. Several educationists this paper spoke to also said they could not recall having seen such a restrictive clause.

However, the headmistress of Barlow Girls’ High School in Malda, where the ruckus broke out yesterday, said she had been told of a distance clause.

“The Malda district inspector of schools had informed us that students would have to be admitted on the basis of a lottery. We were also informed that in urban areas those living within a radius of 1km could apply and in rural areas the distance would be 2km from the school,” said Pranati Dasgupta.

Bimal Pandey, Malda’s district inspector of schools, echoed her. “Yes, we had told the schools about the 1km-2km distance stipulation on instructions from the school education department,” he said.

Education minister Bratya Basu had also told this newspaper yesterday that students living beyond the 1km radius could not take part in the lottery system in urban areas, according to the provisions in the RTE Act.

Today, Basu diluted his stand to some extent. “The schools need to give preference to students living in the neighbourhood. Students living outside the radius can participate in the lottery system after accommodating all the applicants from the neighbourhood,” the minister said.

At least in the case of the Malda school, even the modified stand means that no one from beyond the radius limit stands a chance. The school has received 1,123 applications for 200 seats in Class V. Those promoted from the school’s own Class IV total 44 and have to be automatically accommodated. As many as 426 of the applicants fall outside the 1km limit.

That means if the minister’s tweaked rule is applied, lottery will be held among 697 within-radius applicants for the remaining 156 seats. No prizes for guessing if any seat will be left vacant after that for the other applicants to draw lots.

“We are doing this keeping in mind the provisions in the RTE Act,” minister Basu added.

But no one from the government could explain which provision in the RTE Act called for such a restriction.

“Barring of students from the admission process on the radius criteria is the brainchild of the state government. This is against the principle of RTE and cannot be construed as part of admission guideline,” said a former education minister.

The principal of a private school lauded the principle behind the “neighbourhood” criteria but added that it was difficult to implement it in a country like India with current resources. The priority should be to build more quality schools before imposing restrictions, he added.


The Telegraph, 22 December, 2011, http://telegraphindia.com/1111222/jsp/frontpage/story_14914249.jsp


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