CHANDIGARH: In a sudden development, the Haryana government has deleted Rule 134A that mandated the reservation of 10% seats for meritorious students belonging to the economic weaker section (EWS) in recognised private schools. A notification in this regard was issued by the Haryana government on March 28.
“In the Haryana School Education Rules 2003, Rule 13AA shall be omitted,” says the notification issued by Anand Mohan Sharan, additional chief secretary, department of school education, Haryana.
As per Rule 134A, private schools could charge fees from these students at par with the fees charged in government schools.
Although the Right to Education Act, 2009, which is popularly called as RTE Act, mandates a 25% reservation of seats to EWS students in private schools under Section 12(1)(c) of the Act, that is applicable only till Class VIII. The EWS quota under the Rule 134 A of the Haryana School Education Rules was extended up to Class XII.
While the decision of the Haryana government to omit Rule 134A has come as a major respite for the private schools, the development is being seen as a major setback to EWS students. There were reports that some of the private schools were not responding properly to the students seeking admission under Rule 134-A in the state.
Haryana education minister Kanwar Pal was not available for comment as he is not in India.
A senior officer of the education department, however, told TOI on the condition of anonymity that the decision has been taken by the state because there was no need for such rules when similar provisions are there under the RTE Act.
When contacted, Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) and Federation of Private Schools Welfare Association, told TOI that there is nothing welcoming in this decision, as the schools had no problem with such rules.
