Three years after RTE Act was brought in just 12.6% of the 25% RTE quota has been filled in Mumbai

Updated on: Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Three years after the landmark Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education (RTE) Act was brought in, schools across Mumbai are still a long way off from achieving the goal of egalitarian classrooms.

Education department data shows that this academic year, just 12.6% of the 25% RTE quota has been filled in Mumbai (main city) schools. In other words, just three out of 100 students at the entry level in city schools are from underprvileged backgrounds.

Under the RTE reservation clause, schools must set aside 25% of their total admissions at the entry level for students from socially and economically backward sections of society.

The overall performance of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which includes Mumbai (main), Raigad and Thane, is relatively higher at 28.8% due to the performance of schools in Thane and Raigad. Thane has filled up a total of 9,786 (37.7% of the quota) seats under the quota whereas Raigad has enrolled 1,000 (34.9%) students. At 28.8%, roughly seven out of 100 students are enrolled under the RTE quota in MMR.

Based on the information provided by the office of the deputy director of education, a total of 2,240 schools in MMR have to follow the reservation quota.

This year, 44,087 seats were up for grabs under the quota across MMR. Merely 12,711 (28.8%) of these seats were filled by the end of July. The performance of schools in Mumbai (main) was worse as just 1,925 or 12.6% of the total 15,251 seats under the quota were filled.

The government, though, is hopeful that these numbers will rise by the end of the semester. "Schools have been asked to go beyond their neighbourhood areas to find students who can apply under this quota. Hopefully, they will succeed," said a senior education official.

Mumbai is the second-worst district in the state in terms of admissions under the quota. The city follows Latur's dubious lead. Surprisingly, smaller districts in the state have done much better. Jalgaon and Dhule, for instance, have 99.9% and 96.2% enrolment, respectively.

"Schools in smaller districts are amicable towards implementing the rule as against reputed schools in cities that are still hostile towards students from economically and socially backward sections of society. There is a lack of initiative," said Mahavir Mane, state director of education.

Three years after RTE Act was brought in just 12.6% of the 25% RTE quota has been filled in Mumbai

More Education news