Indore (Madhya Pradesh): About 11,000 applications have come in against 12,000 seats reserved under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in Indore. Even if all the applicants take admission, 1,000 seats will still remain vacant. However, schools cannot fill up these seats, as the Act prohibits filling them up and blocks them for special admission.
On the plus side, the number of applications is actually up by 1,000. Last year, the number of applicants considered for admission was 10,000 in Indore, while the number of blocked seats was still 12,000.
The situation for most private schools, especially the ones affiliated to the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE), is tough. Most MPBSE schools in Indore almost drowned in debt and struggled to stay afloat during the lockdown and online classes.
Now, with another 1,000 seats remaining vacant, it will be an added pressure on the schools. This pressure will be transferred to parents via fee hikes.
Technical issues to blame, say schools: Most schools are getting pleas from parents for RTE admissions. 'Many students are eligible and want admission under RTE, but they struggle due to technical errors,' Gopal Soni, state vice-president of the Association of MP Board Private Unaided Schools, said. 'Even after consideration, many parents and students had to go back because of the high number of technical errors (such as an instance where, despite being a resident of Indore, the parent has a BCL card of another district, SC/ST card issued in name of grandparents and so forth),' Soni said.
Half the RTE seats went vacant in 2021: About half the reserved seats remained vacant in 2021. More than 28,303 schools in Madhya Pradesh registered under the RTE struggled with this issue last year. Over 291,111 seats were reserved in the state, but most of them remained vacant. The same number of seats is reserved this year, as well. Of these 2.9 lakh seats, only 1.4 lakh seats were filled in the state in 2021. This means 1.5 lakh seats remained vacant despite being reserved under the RTE for the academic session.
Only 11,000 applications cleared in verification
Sharing details of the RTE process in Indore, district project coordinator Akshay Singh Rathore said, 'We originally received 15,000 applications for RTE seats in Indore.' During sorting and short-listing, many applications were rejected, he added.
First round of lottery on July 14
First round of allotment of seats under the RTE with the lottery system will be done on July 14. The lottery results will be announced later in July. According to the RTE, 25% of the seats are reserved for underprivileged students in both private and public schools.
