The move by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to reserve seats under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) quota in aided schools has not quite had the desired response.
This year, the percentage of vacant seats under the RTE quota in both aided and unaided schools has increased compared to the previous year.
Seats up
Officials attribute this to an increase in the number of seats, and the fact that very few parents choose to admit their children under RTE quota in aided schools as the medium of instruction in primary classes is in Kannada.
This year, 21.32% of the total 1.52 lakh seats are vacant, a marked increase from the 2017-18 academic year where only 15.2% of the total 1.28 lakh seats were vacant.
The number of vacant seats has increased from 19,647 last year to 32,440 this year. Statistics provided by the department show that 73% of the total 14,281 seats under the RTE quota in aided schools were vacant, while for unaided schools 15% of the 1.37 lakh seats were not filled.
Earlier only unaided schools had to reserve at least 25% of their seats to students belonging to weaker and disadvantaged sections in the neighbourhood. According Section 12 (1) (b) of the RTE Act, aided schools have to provide free and compulsory elementary education to the children admitted based on the annual recurring aid or grants, subject to a minimum of 25%.
Medium of instruction
a deterrent
“All parents want their children to study in English medium. So even if they do not have to pay for education in an aided school, they prefer to pay by taking a loan and admit their child in an unaided school that imparts English-medium education,” an official said.
Sources in the department also pointed out that although 1.43 lakh seats were allotted in three rounds under the RTE quota, there were no takers for 24,599 seats that were allotted.
Parents more aware
Nagasimha G. Rao, convener of the RTE task force, said the awareness among parents had increased prompting them to avoid admitting their children in schools that do not have adequate infrastructure or good teachers.
“As a result, although they have been allotted seats, they do not admit their children in these schools,” he said.