JOIN USEven as the process of online allotments of reserved quota RTE seats is in a quandary, those who have been allotted seats are being denied admission by a number schools in the City on various grounds.
Take the case of Maqsood Pasha, a resident of RT Nagar who wants to get his child admitted to UKG. Pasha had applied for five schools in his ward and he was allotted one – Indian Public School. While he was elated at getting the seat, the feeling, however, did not last because the school rejected the allotment under RTE.
“When I went to the school with my son, they told me they were not taking any admissions, as they had got a stay order on the matter from the High Court,” he said.
He then asked the management how their institution’s name was on the list of schools during the admission process. “They got angry I was asking such questions,” he said.
Highlighting a number of malpractices by schools in the matter, child rights activist G Nagasimha Rao said many were asking students covered under the RTE quota for money. “A school in Bannerghatta has asked students to pay as much as Rs 40,000. Another school is demanding Rs 18,000. Parents are very angry as there is no clarity on the issue. Added to this is the confusion created by online allotments,” he said.
The specific age criterion is also being used by schools to deny admission, he said.
Sujatha Narasimharaju, a resident of JP Nagar, has been helping a number of people from her locality to avail themselves of RTE seats since last year.
“I personally filled up the forms of a number of candidates. In the case of two students, who had been allotted seats in St Mark’s Public School, they said they had not received any intimation or funds from the government for the seats and hence were not admitting students under RTE,” she said.