Very few takers for RTE seats in govt schools

Barely a few months after the state government amended the Right to Education (RTE) Act barring admissions to private schools wherever government schools are located, the gap between private schools and government schools has further widened.

With more and more parents preferring to admit their kids to private schools, about 40% of the total seats under RTE has received not a single application.

Fearing that the RTE is affecting students’ admission in government schools, the state government had amended the RTE rules forbidding admissions to private unaided schools if there was a government school in the same locality.

Interestingly, the government’s increased focus on government and aided schools is attributed to the dip in the RTE applications, this year.

As per the data revealed by the Department of Public Instructions, a total number of seats available for 2019-20 academic year was 17,720. Of which as many as 7,243 seats have not received even a single application. On Monday, during the first round of seat allotment through an online lottery system, the department allocated 7,636 seats of which 5,969 were for general category, 1,382 for SC and 262 for ST. About 23 seats were reserved for special category.

The first round allottees need to report to the allocated schools on or before May 15. The second round of seat allotment will be conducted on 25th of May. The selected students have to report to respective school by May 30. Compared to the 1.35 lakh applications received during 2018, this year, the department has received only 18,399 applications. According to Dr M T Reju, Commissioner, Department of Public Instructions as many as 1,836 applications were rejected for various reasons.