20 June,2014 06:59 AM IST | | Shreya Bhandary
Following mid-day report, the panel took suo motu cognisance of eight kids being asked to leave Goregaon school; says will ensure they are taken back
The day mid-day reported about eight Std I RTE quota students of MTS Khalsa High School in Goregaon (W) being asked to leave school, the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) took suo motu cognizance of the matter. It has said it will ensure that the school takes back the kids.
With the help of the state child rights commission and mid-day readers, these kids may finally get to attend school again
"No school can deny admission to children under any circumstances. We have taken cognizance of the matter and will ensure that the school authorities take back the students," said A N Tripathi, secretary of MSCPCR. The mid-day office also received calls from some Good Samaritans, who have proposed to finance the education of some of these kids.
mid-day's report yesterday
mid-day had reported yesterday that eight students of the school, who had been admitted under the Right to Education (RTE) Act's reservation quota, were asked to either start paying fees from Std I, or go to another school.
The school management's reasoning was that since the school had recently been given minority status, they didn't have to abide by the 25% RTE quota and its attendant rules anymore.
'Unaffordable'
"We were informed on the last day of the previous academic year that the school was now a minority institute and if we wanted our kids to continue studying there, then we needed to pay the regular fees, which we cannot afford," said one of the parents. The school later told the parents not to send the kids to school.
"We sent our children to school in the new academic year, but within a few minutes, their class teachers brought them down and we were asked to take them home. Why should our children be treated like this?" asked another parent.
The parents have now also decided to write to the education department since the eight children are sitting at home and missing class. "Hopefully, the education department will come to our rescue," said a parent.
