Part IV- Responsibilities of Schools And Teachers- RTF & C Education

Part IV

Responsibilities of Schools And Teachers

7. Admission of children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group for purposes of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 12.- 

(1) The school referred to in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) of clause (n) of sections 2, i.e. schools of specified category on non-aided schools not receiving aid or grant of any kind shall ensure that children admitted in pursuance of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 12 shall not be given discriminatory treatment, segregated from the other children in the classrooms, nor shall their classes be held at places and timing different from the classes held for the other children, nor shall any programmed be conducted separately, other than extra classes, for them and for other children.

(2) The school referred to in clause (iii) and (iv) of sub-section (n) of section 2, i.e. schools of specified category or non-aided schools not receiving aid or grant of any kind shall ensure that children admitted in pursuance of clause (c) to sub-section (1) of section 12 shall not be discriminated from the rest of the children in any manner pertaining to entitlements and facilities such as textbooks, uniforms, library, information and communication technology facilities, extra-curricular activities and sports, etc. 

(3) The areas or limits of neighborhood schools specified in sub-rule (1) of rule 4 shall apply to admissions made in pursuance of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 12. 

Provided that, the school shall, if necessary for the purposes of filling up the requisite percentage of seats for children referred to in clause (c) of sub-series (1) section 12, extend these limits with the prior approval of the government.

8. Reimbursement of per-child expenditure by the state government for purposes of sub section (2) of section 12.- 

(1) The total annual recurring expenditure incurred by the government, whether from its own funds, or from funds provided by the central government or by any other authority, for elementary education in respect of all schools established, owned or controlled by it or by the local authority, divided by the total number of children enrolled in all such schools, shall be the per child expenditure incurred by the government. 

Explanation.- 

For the purpose of determining the per child expenditure, the expenditure incurred by the government or local authority on schools referred to in clause (ii) of sub-section 2 i.e. schools of specified category or non-aided schools not receiving aid or grant of any kind the children enrolled in such schools, shall not be included. 

(2) Every school referred to in clause (iii) and (iv) of sub-section (n) of section 2 i.e. schools of specified category or non-aided schools not receiving aid or grant of any kind shall maintain a separate bank account in respect of the amount received by it as reimbursement under sub-section (2) of section 12. The amount of reimbursement shall be equal to the actual amount of expenditure incurred per child by the school or the amount of expenditure per child provided for under sub-rule (1), whichever is less. 

9. Documents acceptable as age proof for purpose of section 14.- 

(1) Wherever a birth certificate under the registration of births and deaths act. 1969 (18 of 1969) is not available, any one of the following documents shall be deemed to be the proof of age of the child for the purposes of admission in schools, namely:-

(a) register or record by the hospital or auxiliary nurse and midwife (ANM) in respect of the birth place of he child;

(b) Anganwadi record;

(c) in case the record is not available a declaration by either father or mother of the child stating the date of birth in case of a child belonging to disadvantage group or weaker section, declaration of the age of the child by the parent or guardian, certified by the sarpanch of the villasge or head master of the local school, or in case of urban or semi-urban area, by an officer notified by the government in that behalf.

Explanation:- 

In such cases, and officer of a rank senior to that of the officer admitting the child to the school shall confirm of the child that the other documents acceptable in place of birth certificate are in fact, not available or cannot, in fact, be obtained.

10. Extended period for admission for the purposes of section 15. 

(1) the extended period of admission from the date of commencement of the academic year of a school shall be till the last date, before the end of the first term. 

(2)  A child may be admitted in a school even after the expiry of the extended period. However, he or she shall be entitled to complete the studies with the help of special training under special training programmer as formulated by Maharashtra state council for educational research and training under rule 3, for a period to be determined by the head of the school. 

11. Recognition of schools for purposes of section 18.- 

(1) Every other than a school established by the government or the local authority, established before the commencement of this act (or any school which has received permission from, or been recognized by the government), shall make self declaration within a period of three months from the date of commencement of this act in form no. 1 to the concerned district education officer regarding its compliance or otherwise with the norms and standards prescribed in the schedule, and that the school fulfills the following conditions. In case, a school is being before or even after the commencement of this act, the school shall be punishable under section 18(5) of the act, by a fine and shall also face legal action,- 

(a) Conditions that the school is run by a society registered under the Societies Registration Act,1860 (21 of 1860) ,or under the Bombay Public Trusts Act,1950 (Bom.XXIV of 1950 );

(b) that the school is not run for profit of any individual,group or association of individuals or any other persons;

(e) that the school confirms to the values enshrined in the Constitution o India,

(d) that the school buildings and other structures as well as the grounds are used only for the purposes of education and skill development.;

(e) that the school is open to inspection by any officer authrized by the State Government or the Local authority.

(f) that the school furnishes such reports and information as may be required by the Director of Education or District Education Officer from time to time and complies with such instructions of the State Government or the Local Authority, as may be issued to secure the continued fulfillment of the conditions of recognition or the removal of deficiencies in working of the school;

(2) Every self declaration received in Form-1 shall be placed by the District Education Officer in public domain displaying it on a notice board,website etc within fifteen days of its receipt.

(3) The District Education Officer shall conduct on -site inspection of such schools which claim in Form -1 to fullfill the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule and the conditions mentioned in sub-rule (1) within three months of the receipt of the self declaration.The said Officer shall personally verified either by himself or through an officer sub -ordinate to him about such fulfillment and prepare a report in the prescribed form.

(4) After the inspection referred to in sub -rule (3) is carried out,the inspection report shall be placed by the District Education Officer in public domain,website and schools found to be conforming to the norms,standards prescribed in the schedule and the conditions shall be granted recognition by the District education Officer in Form-2 within a period of 15 days from the date of inspection.

(5) Schools that do not conform to the norms,prescribed in the schedule and conditions mentioned in sub- rule (1) shall be listed by the District Education Officer through a public order to this effect,and any time within the next two and a half years after the report under sub-rule (#) i submitted to the authorities such schools may apply to the District education Officer for an on-site inspection for grant of recognition.

(6) The Schools which fail to confirm to the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule and conditions mentioned in sub -rule (1) after three years from the commencement of the Act,shall cease to function.

(7) Every school,other than a school established by the government or the Local Authority, established before the commencement of the Act ( or any school which has received permission from,or been recognized by the Government), shall conform to the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule and conditions mentioned in sub rule (1) in order to qualify for recognition.It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that the schools established,owned or controlled by state government or local authority shall comply with the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule and conditions mentioned in sub -rule (1) within a period of 3 years from the commencement of the act.

(8) All prevalent rules of the Government regarding grant or refusal of recognition of schools shall continue to be in force.Also , the schools shall be recognized or granted permission if they conform to the required norms standards prescribed in the Schedule and conditions mentioned in sub rule (1) only in those places where it is found to be an actual need,on the basis of school mapping.

(9) Non -Government Organisations and other institutions shall be encouraged to participate in improving the quality of infrastructure and quality of education in schools run by Local Authorities.

(10) Comprehensive system of evaluation for teachers and schools shall be implemented.The evaluation may be done by various ways like self evaluation,peer evaluation,etc.External evaluation shall also be conducted periodically after such time and time elapsed between two such evaluation shall not exceed more than three years.

12. Withdrawal of recognition to schools for the purposes of sections 12( 3) and 18 (3) 

(1) Where the District Education Officer on his own motion,or any representation received from any person,has reason to believe,that a school recognized under rule 11,has violated one or more of the conditions for grant of recognition or as failed to fulfill the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule ,he shall record the reasons for his belief and then--

(a) issue a notice to the school,specifying the violations of the conditions of grant of recognition and seek its explanation within one month.

(b) in case the explanation is not found to be satisfactory or no explanation is received within the stipulated time period,the District Education Officer may cause an inspection of the school,to be conducted by a Committee of three to five members compromising of educationists,civil society representatives ,media,and government representatives,which shall make due inquiry and submit its Report,along with its recommendations for continuation f recognition or its withdrawal, to the District Education Officer.

(c)the District Education Officer shall forward the Report to the Director of School Education   (Primary ), along with his comments, a copy of the report may be forwarded for information to the State Commission for Protection of Child's Rights.

(2) The School Education and Sports Department ,shall ,convey its decision to the District Education Officer through the Directorate of Education.

(3) The District Education Officer shall,on the basis of the decision of the School Education and Sports Department,pass an order cancelling the recognition granted to the school.The order of d e-recognition shall be operative from the immediately succeeding academic year and shall specify the neighborhood schools in which the children of the d e-recognized schools shall be admitted.The District Education Officer shall also give the concerned neighborhood schools, in advance , a list of the children to be admitted ,with detailed information about the children.