PUNE: At least 2,81,020 online applications for admission have been registered against 1,02,022 vacancies available in the entry-level classes across the state under the Right to Education (RTE) Act’s free education policy till Thursday — the last day to apply.
A total of 25% of the seats in entry-level classes of private unaided schools are kept vacant for students from socially, economically and physically challenged categories under the RTE Act. These students do not have to pay tuition fees as the state is to reimburse the cost of their education.
Dinkar Temkar, the director of primary education of Maharashtra, said, “We have received more applications than the number of seats available. They are higher compared to last year as well, when we received some 2.22 lakh applications.”
In schools that have received fewer applications than seats available, all eligible students who pass the document verification stage will be given admission. In schools with more applications than seats, a lottery will be held. The date of the lottery will be declared by the state’s primary education directorate and will be common to all participating schools.
Pune district has 957 schools registered with the RTE admission portal, offering 15,132 seats, against which 62,285 applications have been submitted this time — making it the highest number of applications in all the districts of the state.
