As govt puts RTE admissions on hold, students, parents await for new circular

This year there were close to nine lakh seats available for admissions in over 76,000 schools across state as a result of the amendment to the RTE implementation rule by Maharashtra government which included government and aided schools under the RTE admission ambit.

An official from the department said, “This increase in seats is due to the amendment. At the same time the number of applications has reduced. Generally there would be over three lakh applications for close to 1 lakh seats available under RTE for admissions, when it was confined to private and unaided school.”

As the RTE admissions are now back to the original system, the process is yet to restart.

Director of School Education (Primary) Sharad Gosavi, said, “As soon as we get clarity from the government, a new circular will be issued to restart the admissions.”

As per the RTE Act, 25 percent of seats in private and unaided schools were reserved for children coming from the marginalised sections of society for free education and the state government would reimburse for their fees.

Maharashtra’s school education department conducts the centralised online admission system wherein seats were allotted through lottery.

Earlier in February, the state government issued a notification declaring amendment to the RTE rule of implementation in the state.

According to the amendment, private schools within one-kilometer vicinity of a government or aided school in Maharashtra will not be obligated to provide admissions under the RTE quota for students from economically backward sections of the society.

Opposing the move, many individuals as well as organizations working in the education sector had moved the Bombay High Court which stayed the amendment.