Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has formed a five-member committee to identify schools that have consistently violated provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which mandates that 25% of seats be reserved for children from economically disadvantaged sections. According to a govt order passed in 2009, the Authority provided land parcels to the schools adhering to the RTE regulations at a subsidised rate, which was 40% to 50% less than the circle rate.A minimum of 3,000 square metres in urban areas and 6,000 square metres in rural areas, inclusive of mandatory playground space, is required for a development authority to grant land at concessional rates for schools.“The school management is required to reserve 25% of the seats for students from economically disadvantaged sections of the society and waive 50% of tuition fee. But across the state there have been violations of the agreement prompting UP govt to conduct a survey of such schools,” GDA vice chairperson Nand Kishore Kalal said.“In Ghaziabad, the schools that have received a rebate from GDA are in Vaishali, Indirapuram, Govindpuram, Lohiya Nagar, Nandgram, Patel Nagar, RNE and Vivekanand Nagar. If a school is found to be violating the RTE norms, its land registration will be cancelled,” he added.Data from 2025 shows that about 13,000 seats were available in Ghaziabad schools under RTE, but only 3,357 students were enrolled.Moreover, according to the agreement between the Authority and schools, the school administrations make a declaration whether they are primary or high schools, but in a survey, it was found that many schools with permission to admit students for primary classes are enrolling students till classes 10 and 12.In 2023, the issue gained traction when the Khatauli MLA had raised the issue in the UP Assembly, forcing GDA to carry out a survey. In the survey, it was found that 31 schools and institutions were in violation of the lease deed agreement with GDA. Twenty schools in the district were supposed to be primary schools, but it was found that these schools had been upgraded to intermediate classes.GDA had served notices to those schools, but beyond that, no further action was taken.
