Demand for RTE seats goes down

The demand for seats under Right to Education (RTE) quota in the state has gone down for the second straight year.

As many as 852 schools across the state have not received a single application for admission for the 2020-21 academic year.

The total number of available seats at these schools are 4,903 and the total number of schools coming under RTE purview was 2,480 for the current academic year.

The Department of Public Instruction has allotted first round of seats through online mode on Wednesday. As many as 25,095 students preferred seats in first list while it is 6,524 in the second list.

Due to various reasons, including duplication of applications, e-ID verification and special verification, more than 440 applications were rejected. The details available from the department shows that the total number of seats available this year were 17,453, of which 1,811 for LKG and 15,642 for grade 1.

This is the second consecutive year that the demand for the seats has gone down. This trend is attributed to the amendments to the RTE regulations in the state, prioritising admissions to government and aided schools.

Even the number of seats available under the Act, this year, is lesser compared to the previous year. During 2019-20 the number of seats available was 17,720 of which only 4,698 seats were filled. This year, 17,453 seats are available under the RTE quota.