Mumbai: With an aim to start the academic year without any delay, admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act may begin in 367 schools of Mumbai from June 25, 2020. Around 5,371 students have been selected from 14,135 applications for 7,069 vacant seats this year for RTE admissions in private unaided schools.
Currently, the system updation for RTE admissions is under process by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in Pune. A senior official managing RTE admissions said, "The final data regarding the admission process will be sent to schools by June 24. Following which, we will verify the process and notify all schools. The admission process may take one more week to start as we are updating the online system."
Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, students from economically weak sections can seek free and compulsory elementary education from Class 1 to 8 in private unaided schools. Around 25 per cent seats in these schools are reserved for students. Parents apply online and via mobile app for RTE admissions, seats are allotted through lottery rounds and parents are notified via SMS.
The lockdown affected the admission process as the education department had to function with minimum staff, revealed Mahesh Palkar, BMC education officer. Palkar said, "The entire RTE admission process is online. But the lockdown affected the process of verifying applications and managing the selection process as we had to work with minimum staff. We have notified all school principals regarding the admission process."
According to the RTE admission guidelines, once parents receive the selection SMS, they will have to visit the respective school on allotted dates and submit documents for verification. Palkar added, "Schools should make necessary arrangements to conduct collection and verification of documents by maintaining physical distancing and safety measures. Verification of documents such as proof of income is an important step before confirmation of admissions. Parents should visit schools on allotted dates and avoid crowding to prevent risks of spread of coronavirus infection."
This year, over 1 lakh students have been selected out of a total of 2.91 lakh applications received for RTE admissions for 1.15 lakh vacant seats in 9,331 schools of Maharashtra. The lottery round was conducted in March.
