03 April,2015 07:32 AM IST | | Shreya Bhandary
The much-awaited first round of admission for allocating free seats through a lottery, under the Right To Education (RTE) took place on Thursday, but parents have not been informed if their child has been allotted a seat
The much-awaited first round of admission for allocating free seats through a lottery, under the Right To Education (RTE) took place on Thursday, but parents have not been informed if their child has been allotted a seat.
The lottery in progress at the BMC education department's office
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) education department, which had informed everybody on Wednesday evening that the lottery results would be sent to parents via SMS by Thursday noon, has now said that the confirmations and details will be given only by Saturday, two days after the lottery was announced.
"We were all informed at the time of admission that just like last year, allotment of seats would be announced immediately after the lottery takes place. But we were surprised when the department personnel went back on their word.
As it is, we are worried about our son's admission, and now we will have to wait till Saturday to figure out if we were lucky or whether we will have to wait for another round," said Aafreen Sheikh, mother of one of the hopefuls. Many parents who were present at the BMC education office in Hindu Colony, Dadar (East), left the venue dejected.
"The whole idea of having the lottery system conducted online was to get immediate results and avoid mistakes," said Arvind Paranjape, from the Anudanit Shiksha Bachao Samiti (ASBS). He added that for the time being, parents have been told that the selected application forms will again be checked before results are announced, which is further going to delay the admissions process.
"The department has rejected hundreds of forms at the time of filling forms online, so clearly they have followed checking protocols. Then why check again? It looks like the department is buying time," added Paranjape.
Official speak
BMC education officials stated that the department will carry out a final check of the documents submitted by parents and confirmation messages will then be sent to parents.
"There is no delay in the process and parents have nothing to worry about. The allotment of seats will be as per the computerised process. We will announce the final list by Saturday," said Shambhavi Jogi, BMC education officer.
