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A day before the last date for sending applications for admission to seats reserved under Right to Education Act 2009,there are no takers for over 75 per cent of these seats in the citys private schools.
The UT Education Department had specified January 31 (Tuesday) as the last date for candidates from economically weaker sections of society to apply under RTE in private schools. However,for over 3,000 seats across 73 private schools,only 700 applications have been received.
Schools are supposed to provide details of their respective admission schedules to the UT Education Department on Tuesday.
As per RTE guidelines,candidates are to be selected via draw of lots. However,owing to the shortage in the number of candidates,most of the schools will not be conducting the draw.
While last year most schools had converted the unclaimed RTE seats into general,the Department has asked schools to notify the department about vacant seats by February 15.
With the schools reiterating shortage in the number of eligible candidates in their neighbourhood (within 1 km radius) the Department had instructed all schools to receive applications from eligible candidates from across the city.
The Independent Schools Association (ISA),however,raised objections to the departments directions pointing out violations in RTE norms. The state government has now started forcing its own rules upon us. When RTE clearly mandates that we have to admit candidates living in the neighbourhood,how can the Education Department ask us to allow admission to anyone from UT, said ISA president H S Mamik.
The officials,on the other hand,stated that the guideline has been amended after due consideration of provisions of the act.
DPI (Schools) Sandeep Hans said,While the RTE Act suggests neighbourhood concept for admissions,it also allows the state governments to relax the rule depending on conditions. In Chandigarh,there are many such schools which are located in highly developed areas. These schools will rarely find people from economically weaker sections in their neighbourhood. But does that mean that the schools will not admit anybody?
We have only asked the schools to admit these students under RTE seats in a similar manner as they did in case of admission to the remaining 75 per cent seats. There also they had accepted applicants from across the city, Hans added.
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