Schools fume over change in age norm for RTE quota

The sudden change in the age criterian for admissions under the RTE quota has left management of schools fuming and confused.

On Wednesday, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) had issued a circular revising the maximum age for admissions under the quota to 4.9 years for of UKG and 5.9 years for class one. An earlier circular had fixed the age at three years to 4.6 years for UKG and five years to 6.6 years in case of class one.

Heads of a number of managements are questioning the usefulness of such a change especially as it comes at a time when the entire process of allotting seats is nearly over.

“It is completely irrational on the part of the government to do this at this stage. If this notification had come at an earlier stage it would have at least helped parents. What is the merit of bringing it now? The entire seat allotment is a complete mess and this has further worsened it,” said D Shashi Kumar, director, Blossom School, Kanakapura and general secretary, The Associated Managements of English Medium School in Karnataka (KAMS).
Terming the DPI’s move a “complete nonsense”, Srikantappa, principal of RR school in Nandini Layout said that his school had rejected a number of applications mainly due to the age criterian.

G Nagasimha Rao, director, Child Rights Trust, an NGO, said that the government was “playing with the emotions of parents” by bringing about such arbitrary measures. “Many parents could have applied if this direction was issued earlier. This is not in the best interest of people. Already the DPI has rejected so many applications based on last year’s age criterian. If it is serious in helping parents then the government should recall all the applications rejected due to age and organise separate allotments,” he said.

Meanwhile the Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association (Kusma) has welcomed the decision to bring about a law making Kannada compulsory subject in all the State-run schools from class one to 10.

“We had told the government earlier about making Kannada compulsory as a subject and not as a medium of instruction. So we fully welcome the move. This should be implemented in all schools - whether CBSE, ICSE or other boards” said V R V Reddy of Kusma.

However, Shashikumar of KAMS suggested that the rule should be implemented in a phased manner. “But, this rule should not apply to students of other boards at the high school level as this may burden the students by sudden shift,” he said.