India, Jan. 14 -- The Right to Education (RTE) Act provision of private, unaided schools needing to reserve 25% of seats in Class I for students belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) was borne of the realisation within policy circles of the many deficiencies of public education in India. The EWS quota was expected to harness private education in a manner where the poor benefitted while the schools were reimbursed by the government for costs incurred. In the 16 years since, however, the significantly low intake of EWS students relative to vacancies, despite a large population of eligible children, underscores a failure in the implementation of the provision. It is in this context that the Supreme Court has ordered the framing of ...