The heads of Anglo-Indian schools across the country on Thursday opposed the Right to Education Bill, fearing infringement on their minority rights.

The bill, awaiting parliamentary approval, proposes that all “aided” and “unaided” schools be asked to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for students from “weaker sections of society” and to educate them for free till Class VIII.

The heads of 140 Anglo-Indian schools, who had gathered in the city to take part in their annual conference, said that such provisions in the bill threatened to take away their rights guaranteed under Article 30 of the Constitution.

“We will appoint legal experts to ascertain whether missionary schools come within the purview of the bill. If our fears are confirmed, we will urge the Centre to exempt our schools from the bill,” said a principal.

“We are not opposed to compulsory and free education for underprivileged children. But we need to know first whether Anglo-Indian schools are going to be affected by the bill or not,” said Gilian Rosemary Hart, the principal of Welland Gouldsmith School and vice-president of the state chapter of the Association of Heads of Anglo-Indian Schools.

A preliminary analysis of the bill by the principals revealed that there was no specific mention of the Christian missionary-run schools.

“The bill only talks about aided and unaided schools. We are not yet sure whether our schools come under either category,” said a participating principal.

The school heads said the bill had laid down certain norms on appointment of teachers and their qualifications, as well as on the constitution of managing committees of the schools.

“Restrictions on the constitution of managing committees and appointment of teachers will infringe on the minority rights of the Anglo-Indian schools guaranteed guaranteed under Article 30 of the Constitution,” the principal added.

The four-day conference, held at La Martiniere School for Girls, ended on Friday.