50 pc students out of school after five rounds of admission

50 pc students out of school after five rounds of admission

Pune: Even after five rounds of admission for 25 per cent of reservation in schools under Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, around 50 per cent of students are still out of school.

As many as two lakh candidates (approximately) had applied for admission under RTE Act. There a total of 1,26,112 seats available against 25 per cent reservation of seats in around 8,976 schools in the State. Out of the total applicants, 73,637 students have not yet got admission in any school under the RTE Act. So far, five rounds of admission process have been completed across the State.

Dhanukumar Sukale, a driver by profession, has been running from pole to pillar for past six to seven months to get his six-year-old daughter enrolled in a school. “My daughter’s name has not appeared in any of the released lists in any of the rounds. I was afraid that in due process of waiting my daughter would lose an academic year, so took an admission in a private school,” he said.

Similar is the situation of Gundappa Gaitonde, who is a school bus driver. “It has been seven months now that I have been pursuing RTE admission. Even after several follow-ups with the school and authorities, my three-year-old son didn’t get admission in pre-primary school till now,” he said. 

As per section 8 (c) and section 9 (c) of the RTE Act, it is the responsibility of the State government or local 
authority and private schools to ensure that EWS children are not discriminated at any stage.

According to RTE Act, 2009, those children from economically backward/weaker section or underprivileged children in the age group of six to 14 years are entitled to get admission at private schools, while these schools have to reserve 25 per cent of seats at the entry level for these children.

At the beginning of the year, parents were caught amidst the tussle between the State government and private schools. Private schools had denied admission under the RTE, stating that State government has failed to reimburse the promised amount to run the scheme. However, Aurangabad High Court had ruled out their plea to boycott admission.

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