The new academic session has started, but Humera, 12, daughter of autorickshaw driver Hifzur Rehman, has not been attending classes.
The girl has been enrolled at New Oxford Public Secondary School in Vivek Vihar, East Delhi, since nursery under the 25 per cent reservation meant for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, Humera is entitled to get free education up to Class VIII.
However, her educational progress has come to a halt this year after the school told her father, Hifzur, that she had failed the Class VI annual examination. Hifzur told The Telegraph that the school had told him Humera could continue in the same class, provided he paid the monthly fee of ₹2,700.
"The school authorities said my daughter has failed in Class VI. They did not provide any marksheet. They said I would have to pay ₹2,700 a month and my daughter would have to repeat a year, or else I have to take a transfer certificate," Hifzur said.
Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act mandates all private non-minority schools to reserve 25 per cent of the seats for EWS children and provide them free education up to Class VIII. The government reimburses the fees of these children at a fixed rate.
Schools have no power to detain children except those in Classes V and VIII based on performance in the annual exam. The schools also cannot force parents of EWS children to take a transfer certificate.
Private schools, however, continue to violate the RTE Act. The CBSE has decided to hire NGOs to conduct research on the implementation of EWS reservation and the emotional and learning levels of children from this category in these schools. A CBSE official said the board wants to study how EWS students are coping with learning in private schools, their anxiety and stigma.
Humera is not the only child to face an uncertain future. Parents of Mohd Rihan and Mohd Sufiyan, both Class VI students in the same school, said they were told their children had failed in the annual exams.
"The school said my son cannot continue to study in the EWS category. They asked me to take TC and get him admitted to another school. As advised by them, I applied for TC. They have not provided the TC yet. My son is at home," Sufiyan's father Mohd Yasin said.
Private schools discriminate against EWS children in many ways.
The parliamentary standing committee on education, which has MPs from different political parties, said in its report on demand for grants for the department of school education last year that there were large-scale violations of RTE by private schools.
The committee recommends that the department compile a list of erring schools and ensure penal action against them.