05 December,2014 12:32 PM IST | | Shreya Bhandary
The NGO has filed a petition in the HC against more than 10 schools for denying admission under the RTE Act to over 200 students; govt bodies like the state child rights commission and BMC have also been named for not helping the kids
The very organisations established to ensure justice to children in the state have now been accused of denying kids their rights. Anudanit Shiksha Bachao Samiti (ASBS), an NGO fighting for the rights of children, has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against various bodies including the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state education department and more than 10 schools.
Over 200 children from the city are still awaiting admission. File pic for representation
The NGO claims the schools denied admission to over 200 students in Mumbai under the RTE quota, and the organisations did not take action to help the students in this regard. "Parents have followed all rules prescribed by the education department and were allotted seats through the online RTE admissions held in June-July this year. However the schools refused to approve the admissions of these children," said Sudhir Paranjape from ASBS.
"We filed a complaint with the education department as well as the Child Rights Commission and, till date, neither have the schools been reprimanded for flouting rules, nor have the children been able to attend school this academic year," he added. Over 10 schools have allegedly not given admission.
In an attempt to make the entire admission process transparent and accessible, the state education department had decided to conduct RTE quota admissions online in Mumbai and Pune for the academic year 2014-15. While close to 9,000 applications were received over a period of two months, less than 2,000 students finally managed to get seats.
"The education department has made promises that schools will be taken to task, even the Child Rights Commission gave assurances of positive action, but nothing has changed. Children have wasted an entire academic year because nobody took this matter seriously," added Paranjape.
The NGO had also filed a petition in court three months ago, but there was no positive outcome. They just kept getting new dates for hearing. They have now filed a fresh petition, highlighting the apathy of people in power and helplessness of parents.
"The education department is busy putting together a new admission schedule for the next academic year, despite knowing that hundreds of students are still waiting to be allotted seats from the current year," said a parent. His son, who would have been in Std I is still waiting to go to school.
