Centre urged to scrap quota in private schools

Reservation for EBC students

• The Telangana State government is of the opion that the students in government school may migrate to corporate schools if the reservations for the EBCs are implemented
• Apart from it, it is said such a quota will put an additional burden of Rs 10 crore on the exchequer

Hyderabad: The Telangana State government intends to do away with 25 per cent reservation for economically poor students in the private un-aided schools in the State. The Right to Education (RTE) Act- 2009, mandates 25 per cent reservation for the children from an economically poor background in the private unaided schools. Now the State government has appealed to the Central government to amend the section in the Act.

The government officials are of the view that implementing reservation for the economically poor children will put additional burden on the State exchequer. In a recently held meeting on the new national education policy, a top official of the education department said several states across the country were yet to implement the quota.

“Implementing will add an additional burden of Rs 10 crore on the State coffers. Why should Telangana State government implement it when other states are not implementing,” said a source, quoting the top official

The officials have felt that if the quota is implemented, the students from government schools may prefer to join the corporate and private schools. It may lead to collapse of public school system. So the government wants to go ahead with the KG to PG free education programme keeping quota at the bay.

However, the educationists are not buying the government’s contention. They say the government has neither improved the standards in its government schools nor has it implemented the quota in the private schools.

They further say the government should improve the standards, infrastructure in government schools and later on pitch in for scrapping quota for students from poorer classes in the private schools.