Presently under Right to Education Act 2010, one need to provide various certificates to prove the identity of child, these could include birth certificate, BPL card or caste certificate, etc. However one consequential effect of requiring such certificates is that orphan children, particularly the ones which are being taken care by Child Care Institutions, face problem in getting such children admitted to schools.
In fact in case of private school, which now are required to provide admission to 25% children from EWS category, problem gets compounded, since no such certificate can be produced in case of orphan children.
Dear Leena and all who are interested,
First of all my apologies for inordinate delay in response and thanks for this relevant query.
My response is in two parts.
1. In relation to children, the first onus of responsibility is on parents. Where parents fail on account of whatever reasons, it is the STATE who is the duty bearer. Therefore the State’s relevant machinery must respond positively to fulfill the right/s of a child. This is the rights based approach and not “bechara”/ sympathy approach.
2. Subsequently, the concerned CWC can pass an order to that arm of the govt. to do justice to the child in distress.
3. In regard to private schools – If a school has a stipulated quota for admission, yes, the CWC can order and not otherwise.
I would suggest to adopt a course of dialogue and cooperation rather than a confronters mode. For an example, I would call for a meeting with these school authorities in an amicable atmosphere where in I would sensitize and appeal to their sensibilities towards these children. This action would bring about a sustainable change for all the time to come for other children as well. Just in case this fails, yes, CWC can exercise its powers and pass an order.
Trust this satisfies you, or else we can certainly converse further.
Regards,
Bharti Sharma
My question is to Bharti di. While you have explained the role of CWC very clearly and even for me this is a big learning, what I want to know is whether the order of the CWC is valid and binding on the private schools? What is the way out to get such children admitted under the EWS provision in the private schools
Dear All,
To understand the way out, one needs to understand some features of the legislation that is administered throughout the country. The legislation by the name of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 as amended in 2006 (JJ Act) takes under its fold all the children who are in difficult circumstances and are in need of care and protection as well as those children who come in conflict with laws of the land. The Act has created different structures and systems to take care of children who are in need of care and protection (CNCP) and children in conflict with law (CCL) who are called “juveniles” as per the JJ Act.
1. All CNCP including orphan children are taken care by section 2(d) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 as amended in 2006.. Also in many states Integrated Child Protection Scheme is rolled out. Child Welfare Committees (CWC) are at least constituted in all the districts of all the states. How well they may be functioning is besides the point. But many of us can activate CWC to perform. CWC is a Bench of Magistrates empowered by the Act for “children in need of care and protection” that is responsible for care, protection, development, treatment and rehabilitation as well as to provide for their basic needs and protection of their human rights. (section 31) .
2. Again as per section 34(3) all the Child Care Institutions run by government or non government organizations are required to get themselves registered under the JJ Act. Therefore, the Child Care Institutions come under the direct supervision and all such children have to be presented before the respective district CWC.
3. Now the problem posed in the mail about admission of these orphan children. The Child Care Institutions that face such problems first need to ensure that they are registered under JJJ Act as mentioned earlier. If not, they must do immediately and to avoid being violators of the law themselves.
4. These Care Institutions must approach concerned CWC with a written request to get the child admitted to a school with all the details and case history of concerned child/children.
5. The CWC has the power and responsibility for the education of the orphan children. It can pass necessary order, like any other court, to the school authority for the admission which the school authority must abide by.
I trust the brief write up is self explanatory and gives solution to the presented problem.
Regards
Bharti Sharma
(Former Chairperson CWC, Delhi and Child Protection Activist)
The state government of Rajasthan has passed an order to all private
schools to give admission to orphan children without seeking such
documents for age proof and identification. Orphan houses / shelter
homes can certify for such children.
In solidarity.
Dr. O. P. Kulhari
Secretary
CULP, Jaipur
As per RTE Act, private and govt schools must give admission even without birth date certificate. If someone does not agree to that, you can look through RTE and show the relevant clause to them and if it still does not work, then you can file a complaint with Dept of Education.