Activists warn of protest as Punjab fails to enforce Right to Education law

The Punjab government and private unaided recognized schools came under fire on April 22 from social activists and NGOs for their continued failure to admit children from economically weaker sections (EWS), as required by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009—even after a clear directive from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

During a press conference, members of the ‘Action Committee for RTE Act-2009 in Punjab’ and various social groups raised concern over the apparent lack of commitment by state authorities and school administrations to uphold the provisions of the RTE Act.

They emphasized that, despite a court order issued two months ago, many districts have yet to begin admissions for EWS children.

“When parents of children from EWS families, social activists and various organisations approach private schools, the school authorities claim they have not received any instructions and feign ignorance about the procedure,” said social activist Onkar Nath, a retired bureaucrat and one of the petitioners in the case.

“There is also no clarity on whether it is the responsibility of the schools or the district authorities to admit the children. The situation is totally confusion,” he added.

Nath drew comparisons with Delhi and Chandigarh, where education departments have established online portals, issued public guidelines, and facilitated transparent admission processes for underprivileged children in private unaided schools.

“The Punjab government has neither created awareness nor issued any guidelines regarding the procedure to be adopted for the implementation of section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act,” said Nath.

“There is no application form, no guidelines regarding income limits, no monitoring cell, etc. We submitted a list of 22 EWS children to the school education department who were refused admission by private schools in writing,” he added, estimating the total number of such private unaided recognized schools in Punjab at around 9,500.

Other members of the Action Committee—Fatehjang Singh, Taranjeet Singh, Kirpal Singh, Sarabjit Singh, Sanyogita, and Didar Singh—along with representatives from the Krantikari Lok Chetna Manch, also participated in the press meet.

They warned that if immediate steps are not taken to enforce the court's order, the committee will launch statewide protests and consider filing a contempt petition.

Under the RTE Act, private unaided schools are required to reserve 25% of Class 1 seats for children from weaker and disadvantaged sections in their neighborhood and provide free elementary education through to completion.

However, activists argue that the Punjab government’s 2011 rules diluted this mandate.

On Feb 19, the Punjab and Haryana High Court reaffirmed the requirement, directing all private unaided schools in Punjab to implement the 25% reservation for the 2025–26 academic session and instructed the state government to ensure strict compliance.