Times of
India: Madurai: Monday, May 13, 2019.
A
Public Interest Litigation was filed before the Madurai bench of the Madras
high court seeking directions to the central government to allocate all pending
funds for the implementation of Right to Education (RTE). The petition sought
to ensure that students studying under RTE in private schools are provided with
books, uniforms in the upcoming academic years.
A
Veronica Mary (32), a social worker from K K Nagar, Madurai found out through
Right to Information (RTI) that in the past seven years, the state government
allocated a sum of Rs 368.49 crore while the central government allocated Rs
27.8 crore for implementation of the RTE act. From the academic year, 2016-17,
the central government has not allotted any funds either, the petition stated.
The
petitioner stated that she visited private schools in Madurai and found that
students admitted in many schools through the Right to Education (RTE) act have
not been provided with free books, uniforms, shoes, as mandated under the act.
According to the petition, private schools in the state initially provided
students joining through RTE with books and uniform, but in the subsequent
years, started demanding fee from them.
“Due
to the unexpected demands by private school management, poor parents face great
difficulties and struggle to pay the fee and end up borrowing money for
interest as credit. This mentally affects the parents and the children.” the
petitioner stated.
The
school managements insist that the school education department in the state has
no objection to this practice as the state and central governments provide low
financial support to private schools. A vacation bench of Justice G R
Swaminathan and Justice M Dhandapani admitted the petition and issued notice to
the central and state government authorities.
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