No objection to 25 per cent quota, say pvt schools

Updated on: Sunday, August 08, 2010

The right to education (RTE) has kicked up a storm in the education sector. The proposal to reserve 25 per cent of the seats in private schools for the underserved, no screening of aspirants, no-fail and no-expulsion policy have had some educationists up in arms.

To clear the air over RTE and to get the perspectives on this highly emotive issue from both government and private education providers, The Times of India on Wednesday organised a round table.

What came out after two hours of intense and, at times, heated debate was this: all sides agree on the right of every child to education. They welcome the RTE in spirit. Private schools have no issues with giving 25 per cent of their seats to the underserved. The issue is with the implementation.

While the Karnataka government — represented by education minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri — welcomes the RTE move wholeheartedly, it says it doesn’t have the resources to implement a scheme which will entail additional expenditure of over Rs 1000 crore. The government has already written to the Centre putting forth its objections and seeking assistance to get RTE off the ground.

Private educationists are worried about the difficulties in implementing RTE. Their concern is with enforcing discipline, not being able to issue transfer certificates to children who are failing, and with the provision of not failing children itself. The schools insist they already provide education voluntarily to underprivileged kids but after doing a background check.

What was not sufficiently articulated but was a strong undercurrent throughout the discussion was the financial burden of accepting this quota. The government, if and when it finds the funds for RTE, will compensate private schools to the extent of the cost it incurs educating a child in a government school. In Karnataka, today, it is about Rs 7000.

Even if this were to rise to Rs 10,000, it will not be enough to meet the expenditure private schools will incur in educating these children. Their concern is that the balance 75 per cent of the children might have to cross-subsidise the education of the 25 per cent. Will that be acceptable to all parents was their question.

Also unsaid but very much in the air was the increased powers RTE will bestow on the education department, especially the enhanced powers of the local block education officers, who might push their own candidates into these schools, perhaps even bypassing the RTE norms.

RTE is here to stay. With suitable amendments that make implementation easier, it will be welcomed was the consensus, contingent upon the government finding the funds to finance this ambitious scheme.

No objection to 25 per cent quota, say pvt schools

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