Breaking the Barrier: Universality, Inclusiveness and EWS Reservation in Private (Public) Schools

Education, though considered as the backbone of every modern civilised society, is one of the most neglected areas in the post-colonial countries including India. The irony of the school education in our society is that unlike the developed countries it is not accessible uniformly and universally to all sections. The growth of private (public) schools and subsequent decline of the quality of government schools in last few decades has created a strong divide in the schooling system. People belonging to economically and socially weaker sections of the society have no access to the private (public) schools; most of which, though not all are considered better in terms of quality of education. The former emerged as a school of elite and upper classes while the latter as a school of poor and under-privileged sections of the society. This type of division that reflects the class character of schools violates the fundamental values of education and cardinal principles of „Rights to Education‟. However, the provision of reservation of 25 % of seats for economically weaker sections (EWS) in public schools or private unaided schools across the country under the Rights of Child to free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) has created a ray of hope for the EWS to get their children educated in such schools. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the implementation of this provision and critically examine its potency towards promoting inclusive and uniform school education in India. The paper concludes that, the said provision is a step in the right direction in achieving the above objectives, but lots need to be done at the school administration level to develop a culture of inclusive education.