VIJAYAWADA: Child rights activists have asked AP government to ensure that all unaided private and corporate schools make available 25 percent of their seats from Class 1 to weaker sections and disadvantaged, as enunciated in Section 12 (3) (1) of Right to Education (RTE) Act enacted by the parliament in 2009.
Krishna district Child Welfare Committee former chairman B.V.S. Kumar said in spite of the act coming into force from April 2010, private unaided schools in most states, including Andhra Pradesh, are not providing admissions free of cost to the deprived sections.
Kumar pointed out that all schools in AP are going to reopen on July 4, 2022. Admissions are on in most private and corporate schools. He feared that if the state government does not act immediately on the issue, under-privileged children will forego their right for free and compulsory education during the forthcoming academic year 2022–23.
The child rights activist appealed to civil society and AP State Commission for Protecting Child Rights to ensure education rights to these children for their bright future.
Kumar said that in case the government needs more time to follow official procedures and notify free admissions, it should instruct all private unaided schools to keep aside 25 percent of available seats from Class I and fill them up later under provisions of the RTE Act.
