AP High Court warns officials to fill up 25% seats allotted for EWS

Under the Right to Education Act, 25 per cent of the seats in private schools are to be reserved for children of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The Andhra Pradesh High Court reprimanded the government on its failure to fill vacant seats in private schools allotted for EWS students.

Amaravati: A bench comprising Chief Justice Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayajulu criticised the government's failure to fill up 25% of Class I seats in private schools free under the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act on Thursday while hearing the case filed by advocate Tandava Yogesh. He had filed a contempt of court case in the High Court saying that the court's decision to allot 25% seats in the first class for free in private schools to the children of economically backward sections from the current academic year was not being implemented. Government advocate Nagaraju said that the process of replacement of seats has been prepared and we are acting as per the orders of the court. He has sought time to bring the details before the court.

The court warned the Chief Secretary (CS), Principal Secretary of school education and Commissioner, who are respondents in the contempt of court case, saying that they will allot seats in jails for officials if they do not show proof of filling up 25% of the seats with poor children. ''Students should be in school or you will be in jail'', the court warned. The court ruled that the details of the number of children admitted to the schools should be presented.

Advocate Yogesh said that it is the responsibility of the government to create awareness among the parents regarding the RTE Act. He said that even if at least five seats are allocated in each of the 16,000 private schools in the state, a total of 80,000 children will get access to education. The court adjourned the hearing to September 7 to present the details.