Tamil Nadu: Madurai tops in registration for RTE admission

MADURAI: Around 2,812 applications have been received under Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE) in Madurai, merely four days after the admissions were started in the district, said the district school education department here on Tuesday.The department began issuing forms for L.K.G. admissions under RTE from April 20 last week. Since then, applications began to pour in at both the district education offices and the official website taking the total number of applications received so far to 2,812.

“As a sign of the increased awareness among parents regarding the RTE act, we have received up to 2,812 RTE applications so far, both through online and at the education offices and schools. This is the highest figure that any district in Tamil Nadu has reached in the past four days. We hope that the number may likely touch 10,000 before the admissions are closed on May 18,” said officials from the school education department.

The district had also topped the list in the last academic year 2017-2018 by registering upto 6,800 applications in total.In case the number of applications in a particular school exceeds the number of seats reserved by it under RTE, the school should conduct a lot in front of the applicants, revenue and education department officials and fill the reserved seats, they explained, adding that these proceedings will take place after May 18.

The officials have been in constant touch with the schools by sending them periodical reminders through voice messages and texts, directing them to put up the details regarding RTE for display in their notice board. The department has also been creating awareness among public by publishing advertisements in newspapers about the admission and the list of documents needed for it. 

Meanwhile, District Collector K Veera Raghava Rao has sent instructions mandating that all the 460 schools that have RTE seats should put their fee structure for public display in their notice board along with the details regarding the RTE vacancies in the institute. Speaking about this, the officials said that the department would conduct surprise visits at these schools during the admissions, to check whether all these instructions are being followed by the school administration, so that any future complaints can be avoided. 

There are about 5610 vacancies for the LKG admission in Madurai district for this academic year. Parents can apply for these seats at the Chief Educational Office and other offices of the department or download the application online through the website: www.dge.tn.gov.in . The documents needed for online applications include the child’s photo, birth certificate, photo copies of the Aadhaar card of the parents, income certificate and the child’s community certificate and contact number. Destitute children, differently abled children, children of HIV patients and third gender will be given spot admission.