21 May,2014 06:54 AM IST | | Niranjan Medhekar
The ongoing online admissions for children belonging to the economically weaker section under the Right To Education (RTE) Act in private schools has revealed that as many as 67 private schools in the city and Pimpri-Chinchwad and 87 schools in south Mumbai have not received a single application till date
The ongoing online admissions for children belonging to the economically weaker section under the Right To Education (RTE) Act in private schools has revealed that as many as 67 private schools in the city and Pimpri-Chinchwad and 87 schools in south Mumbai have not received a single application till date.
This year, for the first time, the education department is conducting the 25% quota admissions in Pune and south Mumbai through a dedicated online portal. The first round admissions have concluded.
"We haven't received a single application for these schools in Pune and Mumbai. This shows that only a few reputed schools are preferred," Education Commissioner S Chokalingam said. "If people are unwilling to enrol their children in these private schools, despite knowing that they will be getting free education, then the obvious question that arises is about the quality of these private schools." The education directorate is now planning to finalise a date to issue enrolment via lottery system for the second round of RTE admissions.
Activist Matin Mujawar said, "The large number of vacant seats shows how the education department has failed to disseminate information about the admission procedure to its target audience, which lives in city slums. Parents would definitely want their children to attend a private school rather than enrolling them in a civic school."
