The All India Forum For Right to Education (AIF-RTE), consisting of educationists, parents and other like-minded people, has demanded the repeal of the Right To Education (RTE) Act and has asked that public hearings be held at the district levels to draft a new bill on the principles of common neighbourhood school system that draws in children, including the disabled.

Dr S.S. Rajagopalan, an eminent academician and a member of the AIF-RTE, said that the government has to ensure that every child is admitted to the nearest school.

Either there should be government schools or government-aided schools in the vicinity and education should be provided free of cost.

In this era of globalisation, the government, which has neglected its own schools, must take steps to impart good quality education.

S. Arumainathan, president, Federation of Tamil Nadu Students-Parents Welfare Association, said, “Recently, we had a programme in which the advantages of common schools was discussed. We reiterated that the number of government schools in the state has to be increased so that children can join government schools in their vicinity”.

There should be some control over the fees charged by private schools. Parents have to understand the benefits of the government schools,” he said.

“We also plan to conduct a programme along with the AIF-RTE in July in Chennai to create an awareness among parents about the common school system,” he said.