Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday reiterated his government’s commitment to enforce the Right To Education (RTE) Act, particularly the provision which mandates reservation of 25% seats for students from economically weaker sections in non-minority, private and unaided schools.
Making an intervention in the state assembly while education minister Ashok Chaudhary was replying to RJD MLA Bhai Virendra’s question with regard to alleged violation of the RTE Act by private schools in Patna, Nitish said the government would soon undertake a review to ascertain whether the private schools are implementing the RTE Act provisions or not.
A recent survey across the country has revealed only one out of five schools eligible to admit students from economically disadvantaged families under the RTE Act are taking in such students, and admission was given to only about 3.46 lakh students against the approximately 22.9 lakh seats available under the criterion in year 2014-15. Thus, just 15.12% seats under the RTE were filled up across the country.