The Rajya Sabha today passed amendments that exempt madarsas and Vedic pathshalas, which impart religious teachings, from the Right to Education Act and grant reservation in private schools to disabled children.
Another amendment clarified that school management committees in aided minority schools would function only in an advisory capacity and would not be required to prepare the school development plan.
The amendments will now go to the Lok Sabha.
Some aided minority schools had expressed the fear that the management committees, made of students’ parents, could be dominated by non-minority groups that can influence the decision-making process. Such an influence would undermine the minority character of the institute, they felt.
Similarly, certain religious bodies had appealed to the government to keep out institutes imparting religious teachings. The Vedic pathshalas demanded that they be exempt from the act as they do not offer formal education. The HRD ministry accepted the demands.
One amendment seeks to include children with disability in disadvantaged groups. This means kids suffering from any kind of physical disability will be entitled to free education in all schools, except unaided minority institutions, under the 25 per cent quota.
However, the ministry is yet to take the final view on whether unaided minority schools can be fully exempt from the RTE Act or only from the quota for students from underprivileged families.