Coimbatore , Tamil Nadu :
The Coimbatore educational district might have recorded a 25% rise in admission under RTE act this academic year, but the schools in rural and suburban areas are yet to meet the target. To improve RTE admissions for the 2015-16 session, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan has planned to organise a three-day workshop that will sensitise schools and the public on the importance of RTE. “Most schools in the rural and suburban areas had announced admission under RTE and had followed all necessary protocols to facilitate the admission procedure. But the lack of awareness among the public is the reason for less number of admissions in government schools,” said a senior official of the school education department.
As government schools begin at the elementary level (Class 1), only 33 admissions were registered this year in the city under RTE.
Though private schools showed a rise in the number of RTE admissions, many schools, especially in suburban areas, did not give much importance to it or faced Private schools faced certain glitches while implementing RTE. “There were problems with funding for RTE admissions. We still have not received any fund for the admissions made in the last two years,” said a principal of a private matriculation school. To meet the challenges, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan will organise the workshop in two phases this month.
“The workshop will focus on the importance of RTE Act, 2009, children rights and the facilities provided to the children under RTE,” said V Malliga, chief educational officer of SSA, Coimbatore. The workshop will cover 22 panchayat unions from Coimbatore and Tirupur and address a group of six members from each school. “For each school, the principal, a member of the management council, an academician, a representative of a self-help group, one member of the parent teacher association and a panchayat official will attend the workshop,” said Malliga.
A total of 1,960 schools will be covered under the workshop and the first phase will be held between December 15 and 17, and the second phase from December 18 to 20. A total of Rs35.28lakhs has been allocated to implement the workshop.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Adarsh Jain, TNN / December 08th, 2014