RTE violates our constitutional provisions: minority institutions

With the Right to Education Act (RTE) setting aside 25% of seats in schools for students of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), heads of minority institutions in the city have expressed their displeasure at the reservation. Claiming that a substantial percentage of the seats was already being given to students of the minority EWS community, principals of several schools such as St. Columba’s, Carmel Convent School and Guru Harkrishan Public School have said that the provisions under the RTE infringed upon the constitutional provisions of minority schools.

“It is clear that while Article 30 (1) of the Constitution safeguards our rights, the imposition of the RTE upon minority educational institutions is objectionable and we would like to be kept out of the ambit of the RTE," said Sister Nirmalini, principal, Carmel Convent School. While the schools have been granted autonomy of financial administration under the constitution, accepting the provisions of the RTE may not be too financially viable for them, they say.

"Almost 41% of the total seats are given to students who fit the category of either EWS or children of widows or siblings. We have to grant them admission and if we include more students as per the RTE, it will lead to heavy financial losses and the government is not even willing to reimburse us," said SS Minhas, principal, Guru Harkrishan Public School (Vasant Vihar).