More than 2 students for each seat: Pune gets highest applications in state for RTE admission process

In Pune, there are approximately two applicants for each available seat, while in Nagpur, the demand for seats is over three times more than the number of seats available. Last year, Pune district had received 36,933 applications for 15,693 seats.

But while districts like Pune and Nagpur are grappling with many applicants for the EWS seats, in Palghar and Kolhapur districts, hundreds of seats are likely to remain vacant due to inadequate number of applicants.

In Kolhapur, only 1,111 applications have been received for 3,501 seats, while in Sangli, 2,301 seats are available but only 980 online forms have been received.

The situation isn’t any better in Palghar and Thane districts. In Palghar, 651 forms have been filled for 3,702 seats, while in Thane, 11,400 applications have been received for 16,594 seats.

While the deadline for filling online forms was earlier February 28, it has now been extended to March 7.

Activists say the number of applications in a particular area depends on two factors: awareness about the RTE admission process and ability to get admission in private schools.

“The high number of applications, even in Pune, come from urban areas. Many groups are working here to raise awareness about RTE admissions, and by now, most of the intended beneficiaries know about the process and the documents they need to submit, so they are able to register in high numbers. But in rural areas, the number of applications are few. In fact, last year, 220 schools had no RTE admissions despite having seats. Another factor is that in cities, the fees charged by private schools are high and it is tough to secure admission, so there are many applications for the RTE admission process. However, this year, in cities like Nashik and Amravati, where our volunteers formed groups to create awareness about the process, there was a jump in the number of applicants,” said education activist Mukund Kirdat.

District education officials in Pune said they have tried to address the discrepancy between rural and urban areas by organising meetings with block education officers, as well as school managements, before the beginning of the admission process. On whether the discussions had had any effect on this year’s admission process, a senior district education official said, “…To ascertain that, we would have to wait for the lottery process to be completed.”