Private school owners, teachers gherao house of Haryana minister Anil Vij

AMBALA: Owners and teachers of various private schools today gheraoed the residence of Haryana Health minister Anil Vij here demanding scraping of a rule under which 10 per cent seats are reserved for Economically weaker section (EWS) students from Class II to XII.

They demanded from the government scrap rule 134-A of Haryana School Education Rules and implement the provisions of Right to Education Act under which 25 per cent of the seats are reserved for weaker sections students, Kulbhushan Sharma, president of federation of private schools Haryana, said.

It was difficult to give admission to EWS students in intermediate classes as private schools were running on limited seats, he said.

Moreover, there was no compensation policy of the government for EWS students which would directly affect other 90 per cent other students as they have to bear the additional burden, Sharma claimed.

He said they would gherao the Chief Minister's residence on May 25 if their demands were not accepted by the state government.

Vij said the dispute must be resolved in the interest of students. Education Minister Rambilas Sharma has been trying to resolve the matter amicably, he said after receiving a memorandum from the protesters.

Schools had even observed strike this month in several parts of the state against the rule 134 A.

Private schools had claimed that many people were misusing the rule 134A by procuring fake documents to show low income in order to get their wards admitted under EWS category.