Will ensure pvt schools admit poor

Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday assured the state assembly that the state government would be taking effective steps to ensure that children from poorer sections get admission in private schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), following noisy scenes created by the opposition RJD and left members over non-implementation of the provisions in private schools across the state.

- Anirban Guha Roy

PATNA:

Intervening in reply to a starred question, CM Kumar said that the state government had always been committed to protect the rights of the poorer and disadvantaged groups and directed state education minister Sunil Kumar and senior officials to ensure that provisions of the RTE Act was followed in the state. "The state education department officials present here would look into the matter and take appropriate steps for implementation of the RTE provisions," CM Kumar said.

The matter came up when RJD's Lalit Kumar Yadav, in a starred question, sought a reply as to whether RTE provisions were being implemented by private schools under which 10 students each from disadvantaged sections are entitled for admission from Class 1 mandatorily. Yadav also highlighted how top private schools in the state capital were not following the RTE norms and taking admission of general category students in place of children from poorer sections and asked what action were being taken against such erring schools.