No seats for new students

With compulsory promotion until STD VIII under the Right to Education ACT, schools say they have no vacancies to admit new students

THE implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act has not been without its significant disadvantages something which 12-year-old Bhakti Jadhav is finding out the hard way.

With her guardians shifting from Thane to Sion soon, her uncle, Shailesh Kadam, and she have been going to various schools in the area since last month to try and get her admitted into Standard VII.



The schools, however, are saying they have no vacancies since no child is being failed between Standard I and VIII in accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act, and their classrooms already have between 70 and 80 students each.

Bhakti has been asked by more than five schools to wait until June, when the academic year gets underway, and hope that some student from Standard VII gets transferred to another school so that she can be admitted.

"We have been going from school to school for more than a month now, but to no avail.

All the schools have told me that there are no vacancies because of the RTE Act coming into force and because their classes already have close to 80 students each.

I have no idea what I will do if she doesn't get admission. How will I ferry a 12-year-old to and from Thane everyday?" asked Kadam.

Bhakti's case is not an isolated one. Suresh Parab (name changed), who has two children and stays in Borivli, said, "I am shifting residence from Borivli to Sion and need to get both my kids admitted in schools which are close to where we'll stay.

The schools, however, claim that they have no vacancies because of the RTE act being implemented. They are saying no seats are getting vacant because no student can be failed until Standard VIII."

Meenu D from Chembur, said, "I asked for an admission in Standard IV for my younger daughter in the school where my elder daughter is already studying.
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But the school denied the admission despite knowing that her sister studies there. These things used to be so much easier before the RTE Act came into effect."

Glimmer of Hope
Jayant Jain, President of Forum for Fairness in Education, however, said that the education department should ensure that students like Bhakti get admission in a school in their vicinity.

"Students shift from one place to another every year and vacancies are created. And even if they are not, accommodating one or two children in a class should not be a big problem.
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The schools are denying admissions to deserving students so that they can get candidates in through donations or the 'management quota'.


Bhakti Jadhav

If parents are facing problems in getting their wards admitted, the education department should help them and make sure that they get admission."

Schools' take
Amol Dhamdhere, honorary secretary, Indian Education Society, which runs various schools, including King George School in Dadar, said, "Earlier, some students used to fail in their class or some parents used to come to us and say that they wanted their wards to repeat the year, which we would allow after taking an undertaking.

This would create vacant seats in each class, allowing us to admit new students and those coming in because their families are shifting residence."

"However, with the RTE coming in, we don't have vacancies anymore as no student can be failed between Standard I and VIII.

When we already have 70 students in one class, how is it possible for us to accommodate another child? I don't think people thought of these things before coming out with the RTE rules. How can schools not be consulted before such important rules are framed?"

"We are not denying anybody education, we are simply saying that there are no vacancies. I believe every child has a right to education and the government should give schools like those run by the BMC, where most seats are vacant, to private institutions to run.

Dr Zahir Kazi, president, Anjuman Islam trust, said, "The rules have not been framed keeping the stakeholders in mind. How is it possible to accommodate a child in a class which already has 80 students?"

Seema Bhuj, principal of Gundecha education academy, Kandivli, said, "When there are no students failing, it is difficult to accommodate students coming in from outside.

Admission can be given to such a child between Standard I and VIII only if a student from the school takes a transfer elsewhere."

Francis Thomas, regional head (Mumbai and Delhi), Ryan Group, which runs Ryan International School, however, said, "We give preference to children whose families are getting transferred to areas close to our schools. We accommodate them no matter what the strength of the
class is."

It helps to know
The RTE Act stipulates the pupil-teacher ratio should be 30:1 at the primary level, which means that there should be no more than 30 students in a class.
The RTE Act states that children living in the vicinity of the school should be given preference for admission

The Other Side
Despite several attempts, Education Minister Rajendra Darda remained unavailable for comment.

80
Number of students that are accommodated in each class on an average in city schools