DK Shivakumar’s Bengaluru School Refuses RTE Admissions

DK Shivakumar’s National Hill View Public School is under fire for refusing admissions under RTE.

A CBSE school in Karnataka's Bengaluru is in the dock for allegedly refusing to admit students under the RTE quota. National Hill View Public School in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, of which Energy Minister DK Shivakumar is the Chairman, allegedly refused to admit students to Class 1 under the RTE quota.

Following this, the parents of students who had procured admissions under the quota staged a protest outside the school on Wednesday.

Chandre Gowda, a parent told The New Indian Express:

Though there is a rule mandating that schools should admit children both at LKG and Class 1, NHVPS is denying admission.

The parents then proceeded to file a complaint with the Block Education Officer. TNIE reports:

At the two units of National Hill View Public School, the total number of seats for LKG is 70 and for Class 1, it is 112. As per the rules, in 2017, the institution has to give 25 percent of the 42 extra seats added in Class 1 for RTE quota children. The school had allocated 33 seats in LKG, but is denying admission to 39 seats in Class 1 at it two units.

According to the report, the school has two units in the same locality. The Karnataka High Court had recently said that private schools are entitled to simultaneously admit students under the RTE quota at two entry points – LKG and Class 1.

In a report published by The Hindu on 17 April, an excerpt from the HC order was published. It reads:

Action of the respondents [State authorities] in allotting students to the educational institutions, both in pre-school and class 1, is legal and intra vires [within the power] of the Right to Education Act. The reservation of 25% in class 1 and pre-school, at both entry levels, simultaneously for children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged group is justifiable.

However, the minister argued that his school would admit students only at one level. He proceeded to allege that "rich" students, and not deserving students, were being admitted under the RTE quota.

We are providing seats at one level and we will not give seats at two levels. We have to check the income status of the parents of children who have got seats under the quota. The rich are giving false affidavits and it is not the poor students who are benefited. This year we will cross check the background of all the children who are admitted to our school.

DK Shivakumar, Energy Minister, Karnataka, to The Hindu