Pvt schools with 25% quota for poor to get govt benefit

After the Rajya Sabha cleared The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008 on Monday, human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday cleared the air, confirming the government will compensate all private schools that provide 25%reservation to poor students in admission.

Sibal also said stern action would be taken against any private school in the Capital violating the Delhi High Court directive to provide 15% quota in admission to children belonging to weaker sections.

Replying to supplementaries in Question Hour, he said the Delhi High Court order has no relation to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2008, which earmarks 25% quota for poor students in public schools.

The Bill, at present, states the reimbursement to private schools to be equivalent to the fees charged per child by the government schools.

The concern raised by private schools is regarding the extra cost they bear per student over and above the government reimbursement. These are precisely the nature of questions on which the drafting group formed by the ministry of human resources development (MHRD) will provide guidance.

The drafting group has been set up to formulate subordinate legislation, which will not be part of the Act but comes under rules, which will help operationalise the Act.

Response from around 1,300 private schools in New Delhi is pertinent. Principal of one of the largest private schools in Delhi said, ?While it is a wonderful move for government to compensate private schools, they also need to compensate schools vis-a-vis the facilities provided. You can?t give a two-acre school the same compensation as you give a 25-acre school.? The city has around 1,100 public schools.

Schools such as Sardar Patel Vidyalaya already admit 15% quota in admission to children belonging to weaker sections and also give another 10% subsidised admission to staff children as per the Delhi High Court directive.

The vice-principal of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya Vijaya Subramanium says, ?Apart from financial responsibility, it is important for the government to provide support in other areas as well while enacting the Bill. If we are going to have 25% students from economically weaker sections in classrooms, it is important for schools to sensitise parents and students and get prepared themselves. The government can help with this as well.?

He said though the Bill was yet to become a law, action will be taken against whoever violated it.