Help at hand for poor students seeking admission in quality private schools in India

A Delhi-based NGO, Social Jurist, has opened an all-India helpline to ensure admission of poor students in private schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.

Any underprivileged child aspiring to study in good quality school but denied admission can call up the helpline. Social Jurist, which is formed by a group of lawyers, has decided to help those children from weaker sections of the society seeking admission in private schools.

Ashok Aggarwal, one of the advisors, says that the NGO started this nation-wide helpline after they found that even two years after the RTE Act came into force, the poorer sections of the society were yet to get benefit from it: “This is a central act -he says- Besides Delhi and few other states, no other state is taking it seriously. If people lodge a complaint with us, we can write to the concerned state government, get support from the local people and help the concerned party. We can even guide the schools, if they call us,’

The helpline, which was started over a month ago, has received many complaints from Mumbai and Pune. According to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which came into force from April 1, 2010, 25% seats are reserved for EWS candidates in all private unaided schools. However, private schools in several states and Union Territories have not implemented this provision at all.

Friends of Humanity is always attentive on the issue of education in India, as one of our partners, Alice Project Schools, is active there, with three schools in the towns of Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Bodhisatta.