Free education falls flat

Vijayawada: The State Government's attempt for implementing the Right to Education Act, which is meant to provide free education for the children of weaker sections in the unaided private schools, has concluded in an abortive way in both the Krishna and NTR districts.

The Andhra Pradesh government has recently issued an admission notification to provide 25 per cent free seats to the children of the downtrodden sections and poor people in the private unaided schools for the Class-1 from this academic year. But due to lack of awareness and publicity the state government initiative became futile as only 170 children were selected for admissions in 800 schools and were told to join on or before September 12.

The erstwhile Krishna District has a significant role in education. The quest for education is high in these districts and this led to the setting up of over three thousand schools, out of which above 800 schools are most popular. Hence the government chose them to implement the right to education act and details of the school were listed on the web portal. Out of 800 schools 418 schools are in Krishna District and the rest of 382 from NTR district. Meanwhile, this year admissions in the private schools have risen drastically, mainly in class 1. Above 20,000 children joined in the class 1 in private schools of both Krishna and NTR Districts. If 25 per cent free seats were implemented seriously, at least 5000 students would have been covered under the act.

It is alleged that the Education department had not conducted a proper campaign.

District Educational officer, NTR District Renuka said, "We followed all the guidelines. The Department has also given paper notifications and other activities to bring awareness among parents. Only 90 students got registered this year in the NTR District, and all of them will be given admissions. We have already sent the student details to the schools concerned. We expect next year student registration will increase."