A probe has been ordered against two private schools in Ahmedabad in connection with the children, admitted under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, being “deliberately detained”, officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The Ahmedabad District Education Officer (DEO) Wednesday directed the Education Inspector (EI) concerned to probe Tripada English School, Ghatlodiya, and Zydus School, Vejalpur, after allegedly receiving complaints from a “couple of parents” whose wards have been admitted under RTE Act’s 25 per cent reservation in private schools.
DEO Ahmedabad city R M Chaudhary told The Indian Express: “A few parents had reached out to the office and complained that these (private) schools have deliberately detained their wards.”
As per the complaints received, students of Class 5 and 8 have been allegedly detained as they were unable to clear their final exams. According to the DEO’s directive, the Education Inspector has been asked to personally visit these two schools and investigate the answer sheets of the students admitted under the RTA.
“Conduct a personal inquiry into how many students of Class 5 and 8 have been declared ‘failed’ and if the school has conducted a re-exam of these students or not. Also, in your presence… let the parents inspect the answer sheets and submit the report to this office,” the DEO order said.
Sources revealed that there could be more than three to four cases in each school as the “couple of parents who have complained about it have alleged that there are similar cases in these schools”.
According to the RTE Act, no student has to be detained till Class 8. Though the central government abolished the no-detention policy for Class 5 and 8 in December 2024, the Gujarat government had already withdrawn it in 2023-24.
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As per the new norms, students scoring below 35 marks in Class 5 and 8 can be held back. However, students who have failed get a second chance to undertake the examination again within two months. The students who are unable to clear the re-examination will then be detained.
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