Kerala brings Government aided schools within the ambit of RTI
4 Nov, 2013The General Education Department, Kerala has issued an order bringing the school managers of government aided school within the ambit of the RTI Act. The order is being circulated among the school managers and headmasters of the government aided schools. The move has been initiated to make the appointment process in the government aided schools more transparent.
It has been decided that in case of the lower primary, higher primary and high schools the managers would act as the PIO, with the Assistant Education Officers acting as the first appellate authority. In case of the higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools too, the managers will act as the PIO, with the Higher Secondary Regional Deputy Director and Vocational Higher Secondary Assistant Director acting as the first appellate authority.
The whole process was initiated when K.V.Seenamol of Nettur, Ernakulam District filed an appeal with State Information Commission (SIC) as his plea under RTI seeking the details of fresh appointments made by the school was refused by the manager of a school and the first appeal was turned down by the District Education Officer as well. As per the SIC, the salaries, benefits and even the pension of the teachers are paid by the government, making the making the managers answerable since they are dealing with public money.