Slum children fight for school admissions

[karira]

As reported by Parvinder Singh in merinews.com on 18 August 2008:
Slum children fight for school admissions

Slum children fight for school admissions

UNDER MASSIVE concrete pillars of a swanky metro rail system, bold dreams are taking shape in the homes of poor families in a Delhi slum.

Rajiv Camp, named after the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, is buzzing with a new-found confidence that defies poverty reflected in open drains and electricity wires hanging over its narrow lanes.

Here, families earning less than a dollar a day have forced open the doors of private schools. Previously, the schools had denied admission to their children in a bid to enforce exclusivity of premium education, which only a few can buy.

According to a state legislation, in the national capital all schools that have been built on land given by the state at nominal rates must reserve 10 per cent of their seats for poor families.

"The school officials mocked us when I went to ask for admission forms," recalled Shakila, a single mother, who packages hardware products in a factory nearby to support her two children.

"You folks living on food handed out by the government are now dreaming of sending your kids to big schools," said Shakila, narrating a comment on her Below Poverty Line (BPL) status by a school official.

"But after close to six months of struggle and persistence, principals of five schools came to my doorsteps to offer admission to my three-year-old daughter," added Shakila.

Scuttled by red tape

One of the biggest hurdles for poor parents in claiming reserved seats for their children is getting a government certificate, stating that their annual incomes are below a hundred thousand Indian rupees.

"Realising that people living in slums don’t have an income proof, schools use this as an excuse to reject applications," said Ritu, from Paridarshita, a community organisation supported by ActionAid.

The local government office meant to provide income certificates more often fails to respond to poor families. This violates state commitments to provide certificates within 21 days of receiving applications.

"To pressure officials into action, we helped parents demand a reply by using Right to Information (RTI) legislation. This exposed the backlog of applications and forced them to clear pending requests," she added.

Demanding rights

Even with the right paperwork in hand, schools did not respond and nor did the education department, which is supposed to monitor the process.

"The schools employ different ways to discourage us. Ranging from shortage of admission forms to outright humiliation," said 30-year-old Kusum Devi. Her son Rahul is now studying in the same school that had previously shut its door on her.

Shakila and Kusum are among hundreds of parents who were initially refused places in private schools.

But once made aware of their rights, these parents, who constitute the vast migrant labour feeding small factories and the construction industry, did not shy away from a fight.

Making policy work

Paridarshita has been rallying parents in Delhi slums to approach schools and education department over the issue.

"Around 1,000 parents were assisted in filing written complaints with director and deputy director of education," said Ritu.

"All these complaints were brought to the notice of high court and contempt notices were issued against schools," she added.

In the last two years, 450 of Delhi’s poorest children got admissions in private schools, thanks to Paridarshita’s efforts and support from ActionAid.

Over 5,400 children would get admission if all the seats reserved in private schools for low income families are filled-up.

[DineshK]

I have filed a RTI application on this subject to Director of Education on 18 July 2008 in which I have asked details of poor children in a particular school. Nothing has been received from the DE tilldate and I am waiting for another few days to file my first appeal.

As per High Court Delhi rules all school who have been provided subsidized land by the government should provide not less them 20 percent seats of poor children whose parents income is less then rupees one lakh p.a. I have list of 384 such schools in Delhi.

As per notification NO. F/DE/15/ACT/2206/424 dated 25 Jan 2007 issued by Joint Secretary (Education) parents should provide Annual Income Certificate from SDM, Ration card of the family, Voter ID card of the family or date of birth of the Child.

But just to avoid admission of children school ask for BPL ration card which is nowhere listed in the above notification.

The notification states that there should not be any separate classes for such children and they should also get the facilities at par with Govt Schools for expenditure on account of uniforms and books. School should not charge any fees of fund or charges of any kind from such students.

Para 6 of the above notification states that a "Freeship cell" should be established in each District Eduction Office under the control of deputy Director to monitor the admissions. In case the admission is refused by the school the parents can approach the Freeship cell which will assist them to get the addmissions in the schools. But till date none of the District has such cell.

I will be filing another RTI application to Eduction Dept in next few days on this subject.