Cabinet discussion on RTE to be heated

Updated on: Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The right to education for children in the state, and a proposal making it mandatory for government departments to offer all citizen services online will come up for discussion at the state cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The state administration will seek approval for business rules for implementation of the Right to Education Act and the e-governance policy at the cabinet meeting.

A heated debate is expected, especially on the RTE proposal, with some ministers objecting to certain provisions. The ministers include those affiliated to educational institutions. The ministers oppose a provision for reservation of 25% seats at the time of admission to grade I for students from economically weaker sections residing near the school. There is also opposition to the makeup of school management committees proposed for state-run and private aided schools. The committees are expected to review the performance and financial accountability of the institutes. A 75% reservation for parents proposed in the central act has been objected to.

The state administration has dropped a provision to appoint a parent as the committee head, following opposition from some political leaders and school managements. There are also reservations on norms to extend elementary education up to class VIII. At present, primary education in the state is from I to VII.

Sources did not rule out the cabinet approving other provisions while reserving decisions on three points.

The e-governance policy, which was put up for public debate, requires all departments to spend 0.5% of their budgetary allocations on information technology services.

Cabinet discussion on RTE to be heated

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