Parents declare children as orphans to obtain RTE seat
Bengaluru: At its worst, the school admission process is a tough route for parents. They not only face stiff competition, but have to jump over several hurdles to secure a place for their children. In a desperate attempt to obtain seats under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) quota in aided and unaided schools, several parents allegedly fudged documents to show their children had special needs or were orphans or street children.
According to a The Hindu report, Department of Public Instruction discovered this during the verification process.
Of the total 1,095 applications received under the special category, 418 were not eligible to claim this benefit. “Many of them did not have the necessary documents. Even single parents had come forward to claim the benefit,” said an official.
These fraudulent applications have been converted to general applications and will still be a part of the online lottery process. Only 533 applications are eligible to be considered as special cases under the disadvantaged category.
Orphans, migrant and street children, and those affected and living with HIV, transgenders, children with special needs, and children of farmers who committed suicide due to drought are considered under the special category. These children will be given first preference in the online lottery process.
The total number of eligible applications for RTE seats was 1.5 times the demand. About 2.33 lakh applicants are eligible for 1.52 lakh seats. As many as 5,482 applications were rejected as there were discrepancies in their documents.
Textbooks and uniforms
Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, pointed out that the State government will provide State syllabus textbooks to those students admitted under the RTE quota. However, managements of CBSE and ICSE schools will have to provide textbooks and school uniforms for RTE students.
Ms. Rajneesh said a fresh circular would be issued in this regard shortly.
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Delhi LG 'praises' CM Atishi, calls her 'thousand times better than her predecessor' Kejriwal
New Delhi, Nov 22: In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is "a thousand times better" than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.
At the seventh convocation ceremony of the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women here, Saxena said, "I am happy today that Delhi's CM is a woman, and I can confidently say that she is a thousand times better than her predecessor."
While making the comment, he took a glance at Atishi who also addressed the students.
The AAP and BJP have been at loggerheads over a range of issues, including governance and control of bureaucracy. Kejriwal tendered his resignation in September and said he would seek a "certificate of honesty" from the public in light of the corruption charges he faced. Atishi succeeded him as the chief minister.
Last year, Saxena ignored the AAP government's request to allow Atishi, who was then the education minister to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event.
A row brewed over the issue with the Aam Aadmi Party lashing out at Saxena after the General Administration Department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of former then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was in the jail in the excise policy scam.
In his speech, Saxena told the students, "As you move ahead, you have four guiding stars. First is your responsibility towards yourself, the second is your responsibility towards your parents and family while the third responsibility is towards the society and nation-building."
"The fourth responsibility is to prove yourself as women who have broken the glass ceiling of gender and stand on par with others in all fields," he said.
Kejriwal had proposed Atishi's name as the chief minister at a meeting of the legislature party and it was unanimously accepted.
When she took charge of the office, Atishi kept an empty chair besides hers for Kejriwal.
Addressing at the event, Atishi reflected on the progress made in the education sector under the AAP government.
"Education is the key to development. Take the example of the US, Canada, or the UK. They provided free education and schooling, and that is why they are developed countries today."
"Ten years ago, when we formed the government here, we saw the same dream. Since then, we have been spending 25 percent of our education budget on improving the sector," she said.
