Pvt schools to move court, if Govt fails to pay fee of 25% reserved students

BHUBANESWAR: Following the State Government’s direction to reserve 25 per cent seats in the private schools for students of financially weak families from the upcoming 2012-13 academic year, the schools have demanded the State Government to bear the total expenditure of the 25 per cent seats. The private school authorities even cautioned that they would go to the court, if the State Government fails to bear the expenditure.

Notably, the Supreme Court had given a judgment last year to reserve 25 per cent seats for students of financially weak families in the private schools across the country. The School and Mass Education Department on Thursday held a meeting here with the heads of private schools of the twin city and directed the schools to implement the apex courts ruling effectively.

During the discussion with the private school heads, the department had clarified that the students of poor families staying within 1 km radius of the private school could read there. If needed, the distance of the radius would be increased, the department authorities said, adding, “The private schools can fill up the vacant reservation seats after three months of the admission.”

“We are directing the schools to implement the RTE Act and the apex court’s ruling to reserve the necessary seats for the poor students. If any one of the schools fails to implement that, the State Government would take action against the school authorities,” said director of primary education Sukdev Das.

On the very next day of the discussion, the private schools on Friday demanded total expenditure of the reserved seats and wanted more clarity on the issue. On the other hand, School and Mass Education Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda said the schools have to obey the direction. They didn’t take any final decision that who would bear the fee, Nanda added.