The Right to Education Act that came into operation from this academic session prohibits screening of students and parents for admissions in schools, but it has been flouted by not only by many private schools but even by the Navodaya schools run by the Centre in Andhra Pradesh and many other states.
Much to the embarrassment of the Human Resources Development, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has slapped notices on the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti that runs these central schools for conducting entrance test for admissions in class VI in 603 Navodaya schools.
The notices direct the samiti to cancel admissions granted through the tests and issue fresh admission notice in conformity with the provisions of the RTE Act. The Samiti is in a bind as it says its admissions for the current academic year are already over and the commission's directive would amount to cancel admissions to 48,240 students who have been already granted admissions.
The samiti has taken the plea that the entrance test for admissions in its 552 Navodaya schools were concluded before April 1 when the law came into force and as such it has not violated the RTE Act. Its offer to sort out admissions given to some 4000 students on the basis of tests after April 1 in the remaining 51 schools can be rectified has been rejected outright by the commission.
In
its notice to the Navodaya schools and its governing body of the samiti, the commission has pointed out that it has taken cognizance of violation of the RTE Act following complaints received from parents in Andhra Pradesh.
"It is learnt that Navodaya Vidyalayas in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere are conducting admission tests for entry to their institutions. This procedure is prohibited by Section 13 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. It is requested that the aforementioned admission test be withdrawn and another notice in conformity with the RTE Act, 2009, be issued at the earliest," says the commission's notice.
The notice warns the Navodaya Vidyalayas of penal action if they do not comply with the RTE Act that provides for a penalty up to Rs 25,000 on schools screening students or parents and up to Rs 50,000 for each subsequent contravention.
The commission has also asked the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti commissioner to issue orders to all Navadaya schools to change the existing admission rules as per the RTE Act. Sources said the commission has also written to the state education secretaries to take action against the schools that conduct any kind of tests or interviews of students and parents as these go against the very spirit of the RTE Act to ensure free education to children up to the age of 14 years.