-The Times of India
A prominent private school in the city was found conducting admission tests of students of class I on Thursday for allegedly violating the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Acting on the orders of the District Education Officer (DEO) and the intervention of the District Project Coordinator (DPC), the written exam was cancelled and a notice was served to the school for the same.
On Thursday, St Joesph’s Co-ed School, Kolar branch, was allegedly conducting admission test of students. There were 54 students of class I and 18 students of class VI. When DPC KK Agrawal reached the school and served a notice to the authorities, the exam was called off. Agrawal said, "I reached the school around 11 am. The exams were on. After the notice was served to them, the authorities gave an apology in writing, saying that it was a mistake on their part."
He said, "A letter has been sent to Rajya Shiksha Kendra Commissioner Ashok Barnwal about the incident. He would take a decision on the matter."
DEO CM Upadhyay, who was on an inspection duty of the on-going board exams, had instructed the DPC to intervene after a tip-off. Upadhyay said, "The matter would be probed on Friday. If the school is found guilty, they would be charged under relevant sections of the RTEand penalized according to the same."
School’s spokesperson Vasundhara Sharma said, "No formal exam was being conducted. Only eligibility of students was being tested. In fact, only handwriting was being examined.