Question : ADMISSION OF EWS CHILDREN IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS

(a) whether 25 per cent reservation meant for children belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) under the Right to Education Act, 2009 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 the Government has taken any steps to create awareness amongst the weaker sections about the reservation in the private schools as per the provisions of the RTE Act; and

(e) if so, the details thereof including the other steps taken by the Government to provide quality education to the poor children?

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. 28 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).

(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 will be available to the States from 1st April, 2015 for children admitted in schools in 2014-15.

(d): States have been creating awareness among students and parents about the provisions of the RTE Act, 2009, for which the Central Government has provided them funds under the SSA.

(e): The Central Government through the SSA has introduced several measures to improve the quality of elementary education through (i) introducing the ‘Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat’, a foundational programme to improve early reading and writing with comprehension and early mathematics; (ii) a focussed programme on strengthening Science and Maths learning at the upper primary level; (iii) sharing an exemplar on continuous comprehensive evaluation in elementary education developed by the NCERT; (iv) notifying learning outcomes by class and stage of education brought out by the NCERT; (v) conducting the 3rd round of National Achievement Surveys for Class III, V and VIII to track student learning outcomes; (vi) provide funds and technical guidance to states for annual refresher training of teachers and (vii) provide academic support to teachers and schools through Block and Cluster Resource Centres.