New Delhi:
The Delhi Government has issued showcause notice to over 700 private schools in the capital, including some of the most elite ones, for failing to allocate 25 per cent of their seats to students from the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) under the Right to Education Act.
The Right to Education Act is one of the flagship programmes launched by the UPA government, but it has not managed to take off in the last two years.
This has led to anger and disappointment for several parents who were hoping to get their children admitted to private schools under the Right to Education Act. Many of them have been protesting in the capital after their applications were turned down by over a dozen schools.
"I tried in at least 12 schools, but nothing happened," said one of the protesting parents Bhagwan Solanki.
Earlier, this week the Delhi Chief Minister and Congress leader defended the private schools over their failure to allocate the required percentage of seats to students from EWS.
"One unfortunate thing is to put a cap on their (private schools) charges. Now, that is also not fair, because remember that primary schools have to meet their expenditures," Ms Dikshit said.
She said while government could meet expenditure of its schools, it was not easy for the private ones.
"Telling private schools to cap this (charges) and take so many percentage of EWS, I think we are not being realistic. We are being backward-looking rather than forward-looking," she added.