RTE violation: Anekal BEO recommends withdrawal of NOC to Greenwood High

Bengaluru: In a first-of-its-kind decision in the state, Block Education Officer (BEO) from Anekal, Mr D.R. Ramamurthy, has written to the DDPI recommending withdrawal of no-objection certificate (NOC) issued to the prestigious Greenwood High to start a ISC/ICSE school with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE board) affiliation.

The DDPI will forward the letter to the ICSE Board. The decision to recommend withdrawal of the NOC was taken as the school refused to allot any seats under the Right to Education (RTE) quota.

Sources at the Anekal BEO office said that as per the RTE Act, the school is bound to surrender 11 seats in the LKG section to children from poor and disadvantaged sections. The BEO had allotted 11 students to the school, but Greenwood High refused to admit any of them.

“First, the school sought time to reply and admit the students. But now it has informed the department that as the school is residential, the RTE Act is not applicable to them. Based on their reply, I have recommended the withdrawal of NOC,” Mr Ramamurthy told Deccan Chronicle.

“Among the 11 students who were allotted seats in the school, nine were given alternative seats in other schools. Two students are still out of school,” he said.

Academic Shrikanth K. Adiga told Deccan Chronicle that the state, for the first time, has taken such a stringent action against a school for denying seats under the RTE quota.

“The government has the right to derecognise a school for not adhering to the RTE norms. There is a debate whether residential schools should be excluded from the RTE quota. But the BEO has done a brave job,” he said.

There was no response to an email sent to the school management, seeking its reaction.