Govt to ensure poor pupils finish private schooling

Soon, children admitted to private schools under the economically weaker section quota will no longer face the threat of being struck off the rolls in case their parents' income rises beyond the limit set to identify this section. Charu Sudan Kasturi reports.

Soon, children admitted to private schools under the economically weaker section (EWS) quota will no longer face the threat of being struck off the rolls in case their parents' income rises beyond the limit set to identify this section.

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With numerous complaints coming in of children in such a situation either being removed or forced to pay the full fee, the HRD ministry proposes to issue guidelines to stop this practice.

"If a child meets the criteria for an EWS seat at admission time, subsequent changes in parental income should not matter. The child's interest is paramount. He should be allowed to continue till he completes his schooling," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal told HT.

Under the Right to Education Act 2009, a private school must set aside 25 per cent seats in Class I for socially and economically disadvantaged children. Many schools resent this and sometimes use ingenious excuses to disqualify children.

The Act allows each state to set quota eligibility.

Different states have different yardsticks. In most states, the quota encompasses — apart from the generally poor — children from scheduled castes and tribes, other backward classes and differently abled categories as well.