The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has questioned the state government over the delay in the admission process for socio-economically marginalised students in private schools.

Concern over reserved seats remaining vacant

The commission has also raised concerns about a large number of seats that were reserved for these students having remained vacant in the last admission cycle.

25 per cent seat reservation for under privileged

The issues with admissions to 25 per cent reserved seats for disadvantaged children in private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act were raised in a recent letter by the MSCPCR to the state director of education (primary). The child rights body has also sought a factual report on RTE admissions conducted in 2023-’24 as well as the directorate’s plans for 2024-’25.

Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 25 per cent of Class 1 and pre-primary seats in private non-minority schools are reserved for children from economically weaker and disadvantaged sections.

When did RTE admissions start?

These students get education free of cost, with the government reimbursing schools for their tuition fees. RTE admissions started later than usual this year due to lack of clarity on making Aadhaar compulsory in order to admit students.

The state education department had later clarified that while children from families that had no Aadhaar cards were eligible for admissions, the document would have to be furnished within a stipulated time. The intervention by the commission followed a complaint by Nitin Dalvi, a citybased activist with the Maharashtra State Student-Parent Teacher Federation (MSSPTF), who highlighted problems faced by parents during the admission process.

RTE admission portal was ridden with glitches

He claimed that the RTE admission portal was ridden with glitches, resulting in the admissions continuing till August and more than 12,000 children being denied admissions. “Parents suffer due to the extended admission process, as they are forced to seek admission for their children in private schools and pay the fees. Many private schools refuse admissions to parents who are allotted seats in the draw.

The commission should give a directive to ensure that the next admission cycle ends by May 2024 and that such a high proportion of seats aren’t left vacant,” reads the complaint by Dalvi. This year, the state had received a record 3.64 lakh applications for around 1.02 lakh seats reserved for marginalised students. However, only 94,700 of these applicants were selected, with only 82,879 eventually getting seats of their choice.