Delhi HC directs schools to fill 10,000 vacant seats from poor students

Directing to state's government education department to strictly get followed the Right to Education (RTE) act 2009 from all private sector schools, which generally avoid to take admission to the poor students despite having 25% quota, the Delhi High Court (HC) Friday stated that all around 10,000 vacant seats from Economic Weaker Society (EWS) quota should be filled in 1,186 non -government aided private schools in this summer vacation for the session 2012-13 before July 2012, the next session of beginning the schools.

The order came after the Delhi government informed the court that around 9,835 nursery seats under the EWS category are vacant in 1,186 unaided private schools in 2012-13 session.

A bench, headed by acting chief justice AK Sikri, also asked the director of education to decide in a month on bringing orphan children under “child belonging to disadvantaged group” under RTE (Right to Education) Act, 2009. This would help them become eligible for admission under the 25% EWS reservation, the court observed.

"So that the orphan child also becomes eligible for admission under 25 percent EWS reservation," the court observed.

Disposing off the petition filed by an NGO, Social Jurist, the bench also ordered that the admission process will be conducted by the deputy director of education and not by the schools.

Appearing for Social Jurist, advocate Ashok Agarwal had argued that the city's unaided private schools failed to comply with the provisions of RTE Act relating to grant of admissions to the extent of 25 percent seats to the children belonging to EWS section.

Students belonging to disadvantaged groups and EWS, admitted in unaided private private schools under the RTE Act, are entitled, free of cost, to all facilities and provisions including books, uniform, smart classes etc. from the school which are made available to fee-paying students.

--With IANS Inputs--