Shillong, Sep 12: The Education Department of the Meghalaya government has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for admitting children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups to private unaided schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.
The guidelines issued by the education department is to streamline the admission process under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act have laid down the applicability criteria for schools, student registration, category-wise seat reservation, neighbourhood criteria for candidate and norms for fee reimbursement.
According to these guidelines, all private unaided non-minority schools shall admit children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups in Class I to the extent of at least 25 per cent of the total seats as mandated by the RTE Act. While private minority (religious/linguistic) schools and residential schools are not under the ambit of the RTE admission process the guidelines said if the day-boarding facility is also available in residential schools then the Act will only apply to the day-boarding part.
Children belonging to weaker sections (family who fall under the Below Poverty Line and those registered under Antodaya Anna Yojna) and disadvantage groups such as orphan, Schedule Tribe and Scheduled Caste with total family earning less than Rs 2 lakh per annum, children with disability/special needs, children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, victim of armed conflict, civil commotion, ethnic clashes or natural calamity, vulnerable to drug abuse or trafficking and abandoned child, children eligible for sponsorship under Section 45 of the Juvenile Justice Act, children of martyred soldiers, children of commercial sex workers, teagarden/migrant workers and transgender children will be eligible for these seats.
According to the SOP, first priority should be given to children residing in a 1 km radius of the school, with second preference to those living within a radius of 3 km. In the case of unfilled seats, the applicants residing beyond 3 km but within 6 km and in the same block should be considered for admission.
The order stated that 25 per cent of seats would be calculated from the average of total admissions of the last three years in the entry-level class. For newly registered schools, 25 per cent would be calculated on the basis of the approved class strength.
