Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Less than 50 per cent of seats reserved under Right to Education (RTE) Act has applicants, leaving 52.8 per cent of seats empty even if all the applicants are allotted a seat. This gap of 52.8 per cent puts an extra burden on private schools, which transfers it to parents in the form of higher fees and other charges.
Schools claim that more than 1.5 lakh seats will remain vacant in private schools, which could have been easily filled under the normal admission process. This year, RTE received 1,34,851 applicants for admissions in unaided private schools in the state for academic session 2023-24.
However, the number of seats reserved across the state in private schools is 2,84,000. This would leave 1,49,149 seats in private schools vacant for sure.
The seats are reserved as per the RTE Act which mandates all private schools to reserve 25 per cent of their seats for children from socially disadvantaged and economically backward sections. This move is intended to boost social inclusion and pave the way for a more just and equal country.
However, private school association argues that this move is taking the chance away from general students to be admitted to a school and study, as noted by state president of the association, Gopal Soni.
More girl applicants than boys
As per state school education department, parents must complete document verification of the students at the concerned public education centres by March 25, 2023. Director of school education department Dhanraju S added that only those applicants whose verification is completed will be included in the online lottery.
The first round of online lottery will be opened for school allotment on March 28, 2023. School will be allotted to the applicants through an online lottery and an SMS will be sent to the selected applicants.
It is worth mentioning that this year about 2 lakh 84 thousand seats are available for free admission in Class 1 of 27,314 private schools of the state. Applications have been received for 34, 851 seats in 24, 930 private schools till the last date.
There are 2,384 private schools in the state in which not a single application has been made for free admission.
Out of 34 thousand 851 children whose applications have been received, 64,260 are girls and 70,591 are boys.
Most of the applications have been made for free admission to the nursery class.
Out of which 41,066 are boys and 37,913 are girls. For KG 1 for 19,051 boys and 17,288 girls applications have been received. In KG 2, there are 1,000 applicants, out of which, 45 are boys and 984 are girls. For class 1, a total of 9 thousand applications have been received. Out of this, 428 are from boys and 8,075 from girls.
