Question : Admission of Non-EWS Children in Private schools

(a) whether under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009,
25 per cent reservation meant for children belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is being implemented uniformly in all the private schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(c) the details of the claims and the amount of money reimbursed to the private schools for providing free education to the EWS students during the last three years and the current year, State-wise;
(d) whether a large number of cases have come to the notice of the Government where fake income certificates were used to get children of non-EWS category admitted in some private schools in Delhi;
(e) if so, the details of schools where such cases have been detected; and
(f) the action taken by the Government and the law enforcement agencies against schools and the parents of children who produced/procured fake certificates/documents to get their children admitted in private schools?

MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b): Section 12 (1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 mandates that all specified category schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas and private un-aided schools shall admit children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood in class I (or pre-school, as the case may be), to the extent of at least 25 percent of the strength of that class and provide free and compulsory elementary education to them till its completion. 27 States/UTs have issued notification or made provision in their State RTE Rules regarding admission of children belonging to disadvantaged and weaker sections under Section 12(1)(c). States have reported enrolment of a total of 18.10 lakh children in private unaided schools in the academic year 2014-15 under Section 12 (1) (c) of the RTE Act, 2009. Kendriya Vidyalayas admit 25% children from economically weaker section in class I.

(c): The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) Framework has been amended with effect from 1st April, 2014 to assist States/UTs towards reimbursement of costs incurred with respect to admissions under Section 12(1)(c). The reimbursement is based on per child cost norms notified by the State/UT concerned for classes I to VIII, subject to a maximum ceiling of 20 percent of the size of the total Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) approved for the State /UT under SSA and is available from 2015-16. The Ministry has approved an allocation of Rs 250.65 crore, as per its norms, to 7 States in their AWP&B, 2015-16 against expenditure incurred for reimbursement of fee to private unaided schools under section 12(1)(c). State-wise details are at Annexure-I.

(d) to (f): The Government of NCT of Delhi has informed that some of the cases of economically weaker section/disadvantaged group category admission in private unaided recognized schools of Delhi on the basis of fake income certificates have come to their notice. List of the schools where such cases has been detected in Delhi are at Annexure-II. Delhi Police is investigating the case and some FIRs have been registered by them against the concerned schools. Government of NCT of Delhi has issued directions to all the private schools to be cautious in this regard and exercise due diligence as well as carry out necessary verification before admissions so as to ensure the benefits of admission under section 12 (1) (c) are given to the targeted group of children.

The Ministry had issued guidelines on 23rd November, 2010 to all States under Section 35 of the RTE Act, 2009 for implementation of section 12(1)(c). The RTE Act, 2009 provides monitoring of child’s right to education and redressal of grievances by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) at central level and by State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) at state level. NCPCR has written a letter to the Principal Secretaries (Education) of all the States and Chairpersons of all the State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) on 24the June, 2015, requesting them to launch a special drive to examine and verify the admission records of the academic sessions of 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

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