Parents pour out their RTE woes at Education Adalat

It was confusion and chaos for the parents who had arrived at the Education Adalat (Shikshana Adalat), along with their children, that saw them air their woes and grievances.

The Education Adalat was held at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Auditorium in the City recently and was attended by the deputy director of the Department of Public Instruction, members and officials of the Witness institute, District Child Welfare Institute and the RTE Task Force.

At the Adalat, one of the parents lamented that he had sought admission for his son in a couple of schools, under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in the City. Most of the schools rejected the applications on one pretext or the other.

And even if a few schools accepted the applications, there would be no mention about the column meant for admissions under the RTE Act, in the application forms.

“Being illiterate, we are not aware of the exact application form required to be filled for admissions under the RTE Act. Neither, are we aware to whom should we submit the forms. Every body keeps confusing us, instead of showing us the way. In which school should my son study,” he asked.

As many as 20 parents expressed their woes related to RTE Act and the travails faced by them in getting their wards admitted to good schools in the towns and City. The parents were disturbed over the fact that most of the schools seldom followed rules and regulations related to the RTE Act. Also, they rued over the fact that there was no proper information nor guidance with regards to the implementation of the Act and the admission procedures involved in it.

According to T S Badrinath, “I had applied for my ward’s admission in two schools under the RTE Act. One school rejected, while the other accepted. I was told to submit the caste certificate along with the application form. Under the RTE Act, those children belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes, only had the opportunity to study in schools. I am not aware of the fact that to which category does the Vyshya community belongs to. I also inquired at the Taluk office. Unfortunately, even they are not aware of this. If I do not submit the caste certificate on time, then the school will cancel my child’s admission. I am confused how to go about,” he stated.
Another parent, Shrinivas, who had arrived with his child, also placed a similar grievance at the Adalat.

Act being misused

A few parents expressed that most of them had sought for admissions in the schools that came under their respective wards. However, the schools offered admissions according to their whims and fancies and cared two hoots about the rules and guidelines. The officials should take such schools to task. They should ensure that the RTE Act was not being misused and also, was not being used as a tool to harass parents and their wards.

The Act ensured to provide free and fair education to all children. Instead of making their future, it was being used to trouble them, one of the parents said.

A few parents of disabled and specially abled, lamented that most of the regular schools did not offer admissions to children with abilities. Hence, they were ready to educate them at their homes. However, the resource teachers did not visit their homes to train such children.

Said Padmavathi, a parent from Bagepalli and a mother of a 14-year-old child with special abilities, “My daughter was not aware how a school was. She has never been to school and even the resource teachers were not agreeing to train her at my home. Was there a way out of this,?” she questioned.

Phase by phase

After listening to all the grievances of the parents, Deputy Director of the Department of Public Instruction, T Ashwath Reddy said that most of the problems faced by the parents can be easily addressed. However, the grievances would be addressed phase by phase.
As far as the case related to children with special abilities and disabled children, getting them admitted to special schools was inevitable. However, under difficult situations, measures will be taken to ensure that resource teachers would be sent home for special coaching, he explained.

Rajanna from the District Child Welfare Institute, Co-ordinator of Witness institute A G Sudhakar, President of CRY Vasudev Sharma, RTE Task Force President Satish and several others were present on the occasion.