India, Feb. 23 -- Parents and several education bodies have raised objections against the state education department's recent decision to grant private schools the authority to verify documents of students seeking admission under the Right to Education (RTE) Act's 25 per cent reservation quota.

Nishigandha Sane, a parent, said, "Giving schools the power to scrutinise documents could lead to arbitrary rejection of applications, ultimately increasing the number of vacant seats under the RTE quota."

Earlier, a 20-member independent scrutiny committee headed by the block education officer and including headmasters, teachers, parents, and education officials, conducted document verification. The mechanism ensured transparency and democratic ...