New Delhi: Over 9,100 Delhi students have
approached the capital`s child rights body with complaints
over denial of admission and other matters under Right to
Education Act since the legislation came into being in April.
The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights
(DCPCR) had already dealt with around 1,000 complaints but
8,000 cases are still pending before its special RTE cell, its
Chairperson Amodh Kant told reporters here today.
"We have been increasingly receiving cases of schools
flouting the rules. Screening tests are still being conducted,
poor children are denied admission, schools have hiked fees.
We are handling 8,000 such cases at present," he said.
The majority of the cases were of allegations of
admission denials, he said.
Right to Education Act came into effect on April one this
year with the view to provide elementary education to the
children belonging to the age group of 6-14 years.
"Majority of the schools are reluctant in admitting
students, but we have to force them. Government schools give
overcrowding as the primary reason for denying admission to
students," Kanth said.
Holding the government responsible for not spending on
education infrastructure, he added, "If they can spend so much
on Commonwealth Games, why can`t they spend on infrastructure?
We can not wait for three years, we are in touch with NGOs for
assistance in the project."
To effectively implement the Act and to reach out to more
children, the commission established the first of its kind RTE
cell and a helpline number, a project named `Alert and Action
Mechanism`, after the RTE was passed.
The RTE Act empowers DCPCR to function as a statutory
monitoring body and an appellate authority to ensure that
children`s rights are not violated.
PTI
