PUNE: Non-allotment of the preferred school, lack of proper documents, and schools demanding that parents pay up some portion of the fees have led to a large number of free seats under the RTE Act quota remaining vacant.
Admissions for these seats in entry-level classes in private schools ended last Friday with 28,000 vacant seats across the state. Last year, 34,000 RTE seats were vacant.
For the academic year 2022-23, 9,086 schools had registered on the RTE admission portal with a total intake capacity of 1,01,906 against which 2,82,783 applications were received. Of these, about 1,12,560 students were allotted schools but only 73,535 students confirmed their admission, data from the state government said.
RTE education activist Mukund Kirdat said when parents do not get a nearby school or a school of their choice, sometimes they do not get their child admitted. Some schools force parents to pay for either the uniforms or books or half the tuition fees. Others tell parents to pay a lump sum amount stating that when the government reimburses them, the amount taken will be refunded.
“Many parents are daily wage workers and cannot afford to pay. Hence, they get their children admitted to a nearby government school where there is no fee sought and they also get books, uniforms and study material free,” he added.
