When the children of brick kiln workers approached Majlispur Free Primary School in North 24 Parganas for admission, the school authorities refused to do so as the children were unable to produce birth certificates. When the parents wrote to the District Inspector (DI), Schools, for children’s admission under Right to Education (RTE) Act, they were told no such thing as RTE existed.
At Hindu Balika Vidyalaya at Contai in East Midnapore district, the DI was shown an undertaking taken from the guardians indicating they had agreed for the admission test and also for paying the “development” fees.
Similarly, reputed schools like Ramakrishan Mission Vivekanada Vidyamandir at Malda Town have refused to oblige various requests from the district administration on admission tests saying they were outside the ambit of RTE Act.
Nearly 18 months after the RTE Act came into effect across the country in April, 2010, several instances of gross ignorance could be seen at a public hearing organised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Thursday at Town Hall in Kolkata. During the hearing, 35 cases of violation of the RTE Act were discussed.
The NCPCR, a statutory body, was set up in March 2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 (4 of 2006).
As the cases came up for discussion, School Education department did not deny any complaints ranging from holding admission tests, denying admission to children, charging admission fees, denial of mid-day meal and other provisions made mandatory under the RTE Act. The representatives of NCPCR and other social activists stressed upon the government to impose penalty of Rs 25,000 for having admission test and charging the authorities 10 times the donation taken from the student.
“There is no need for any circular. The law is very clear that the children should be admitted in the schools without any conditions… next time, we will take the matter seriously,” said Vinod Kumar Tikoo, a member of the NCPCR..
“We will see that their is compliance in the matter,” said Shanta Sinha, the chairperson of the NCPCR. Sinha said West Bengal is one of the five states which do not have State Commission For Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR).
Sinha also expressed concern the government has not come up with model rules for the implementation of RTE in the state.
“We have come up with several notifications and are close to forming model rules for the RTE Act,” said Choten D Lama, director of West Bengal Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan.