Confusions still prevail over admission under RTE Act

Updated on: Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Going by the diktat of the state education department, private schools have started issuing applications for admissions under RTE. Despite this being the second year of implementation of RTE, confusion abounds about how schools should go about it after a failed first year. Shrinivasa M. delineates the problems dogging the Right to Education this time around

The government clearly refuses to learn from experience. For the second consecutive year, confusion surrounds the admissions to schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

While schools began issuing application forms on Monday for 25 per cent of their seats to underpriveleged children under RTE in accordance with the calendar of events issued by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), both parents of the students and the institutions themselves seemed at sea about the details involved.

To the surprise of the poor families that approached the schools, they were asked to pay a hefty fee of between `50 and `150 for the application forms issued to them when they had been told they would get them for free. Upset parents staged a protest before the Rajajinagar Block Education Office (BEOs) demanding free application forms and did not disperse till the harassed officers arranged for them. “We were very upset and gave up our protest only after we got the free forms,” said one parent, R.V. Gowda, who is hoping to admit his daughter under RTE to a private school.

Many parents were also unclear about which of the schools were listed in their neighbourhoods under the new rules. The officials did little to clear the confusion with some claiming that all schools within their wards belonged to their neighbourhoods under the new definition, while others said they could apply to only those within a radius of one kilometer of their homes.

School managements too were unsure about who should bear the expenses of these students’ textbooks, notebooks, uniforms, sports and cultural fee as their education in these institutions is supposed to be free of cost under RTE.

Some informed parents that only the tuition at the school was free and they had to pay for the uniforms, textbooks, library fee and so on. “Many students are being told they will have pay in thousands for all of this,” complained Ravish Reddy, another parent.

How to seek admission under RTE

    Applications can be downloaded directly from the schooleducation.kar.nic. in or you can get them for free from the DDPI and BEO offices
    Filled applications must be submitted to the schools concerned before February 5
    Caste and income certificates must be attached with the applications as seats are reserved based on the annual income of the family , caste and the disadvantaged group it belongs to
    Schools will forward the applications to the BEOs concerned after verifying the certificates attached
    If the applications exceed the reserved seats, students will be selected based on a lottery-like system

Confusions still prevail over admission under RTE Act

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