The NCSC has demanded an explanation from commissioner of School Education about steps taken to ensure reservation implemented in the admissions.
Published Jun 24, 2022 | 9:42 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 22, 2022 | 12:16 PM
Tamil Nadu schools told to follow community reservation norms in class 11 admissions (Image: Creative Commons)
The Tamil Nadu Directorate of School Education on 24 June directed all the schools in the state to follow the community reservation norms for Class XI admissions.
The directives came after the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), acting on a petition, issued notices to the Commissioner of School Education Department R Nandakumar on 17 June.
The NCSC demanded that the commissioner explain the steps taken by his department to ensure that the community reservation norms are implemented in the admission process.
Tamil Nadu Sanitation Workers Welfare Board member Veera Selvakumar, who filed the aforementioned petition with the NCSC, told South First that he did it after some state government schools flouted the reservation norms.
He said that all types of schools — government, government-aided, or private schools — should follow the reservation norms for admissions as per GO-587.
“The schools in the state should set aside 18 percent of their seats for Scheduled Class students and 1 percent for those from Scheduled Tribe. They should allocate 31 percent for the general category, 26.5 percent for Backward Classes, and 20% for Most Backward Classes in Class XI admission,” he told South First.
Selvakumar added that since the district education officers formed no committee to inspect the admission processes, many schools in the state have failed to follow the norms.
This resulted in SC/ST students losing seats in private and government-aided schools, he said.
“Many SC/ST students were denied seats in the groups of their choice as the schools preferred to give those seats to students who offered donations,” he explained.
Sources in the School Education department in Chennai told South First that they issued a circular to all schools in the state to follow the reservation norms in the Class XI admissions.
They said that the department would form an inspection committee to see if the schools were following the norms.
The sources refused to provide details of the schools that didn’t implement the norms in recent years.
