Karnataka: Schools demand extra fee from Right to Education students, says parents

Bengaluru: Confusion over the first round seat allotment of Right to Education (RTE) seats continued even on Monday. Parents complained that some of the schools are demanding extra fees, while some others are discriminating against RTE students by creating separate sections.

Though Monday was a holiday because of Labour Day, many employees of Block Education Office (BEO) attended work to resolve issues surrounding RTE admissions.

RTE activists said that it is pathetic that even five years after RTE was implemented, the state government still has not been able to stop schools from collecting extra fee from RTE students, who are from economically and socially backward backgrounds. “Tens of schools from the city are demanding Rs 7,000 and Rs10,000 as extra fee. If parents lodge a complaint with the BEO, their children are targeted at school,” alleged Mr Nagasimha G Rao of the RTE Task Force

“A school in Chamarajnagar is trying to send RTE students to other schools with no facilities to ensure that its main campus remains only for the elite,” he said.