Over 38,000 applications for admissions under RTE

PUNE: Pune has received the highest number of applications — 38,600 — in the state for 16,444 seats available under Right to Education (RTE) Act in private unaided schools.
From Pune, as many as 946 schools are eligible to register for admission under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Of them, a total of 933 have registered for the scheme, said Sharad Gosavi, deputy director, state primary education department.

Students from Pune will have 16,444 seats to choose from under the RTE scheme. The admissions process will begin next week with parents filling in the forms. The last date of application has been extended to March 9. "Pune has the highest number of applications for availing benefit under the scheme. The awareness level here is really high and it shows in the number of applications filed not just this year, but every year," Gosavi said.

A government resolution issued earlier this year stated that schools refusing to admit students under RTE will be immediately de-recognised and further action will be taken against them as per the law.

Schools cannot reject admission based on small mistakes like spelling errors in the names of students in the online application form, it said. Schools will collect the required papers from parents, use them to fill forms while submitting the information to the education officer.

The first school allotted to a child will remain final and if a parent fails to secure admission within the stipulated time, the admission will be cancelled.