State forms committee to change admission rules under RTE Act

MUMBAI: After failing to exempt private-unaided schools from admitting students from socially and economically backward classes under the 25% quota mandated by the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Maharashtra government has decided to revise the rules of the act. A seven-member committee has been formed to recommend changes in the existing rules. The panel has been asked to submit it in the next two months. An order to this effect was issued by the school education department on Wednesday.

The students admitted under the quota get education free of cost till Class 8 and the government reimburses their fees to the schools. To effectively implement the act, the school education department had formed rules on October 11, 2011, and later made changes in 2012 and 2013.

The newly formed committee is headed by the education commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh. The other six members are: state project director, Maharashtra Primary Education Council (MPEC); director, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT); deputy secretary, school education department; legal advisor, school education department; education director, Directorate of Secondary Education (DSE) and education director, Directorate of Primary Education (DPE).

The committee has also been tasked to give its recommendation to prevent court cases over reimbursement of the school fees, the government resolution stated.

The state government’s decision has come almost a year after it decided to exempt private schools within a one-kilometre radius of government or aided schools from RTE quota admissions. A notification in this regard was also issued on February 9 last year that was set aside by the Bombay high court on July 19. The Bombay High Court decision was upheld by the Supreme Court on August 9.

The bench held that the impugned provision was “ultra vires (beyond legal authority) of RTE Act, 2009, and Article 21 of Constitution” and declared the notification issued on February 9 to be “void”. This would mean that self-financed and private schools will have to mandatorily set aside 25% of seats for students from socio-economically backward sections, as was the case prior to the notification.