BENGALURU:  The process to admit students under the Right to Education (RTE) Act for the 2019-20 academic year will be delayed as Chief Minister  H D Kumaraswamy has still not cleared the file to issue notification.As per amendments to RTE rules, which were approved in the recent cabinet meeting, from the coming year, seats at state government and aided schools will be filled first and only in case of lack of such schools in the neighbourhoods, private unaided schools will be considered.

To ensure this, the Primary and Secondary Education Department has decided to make a list of private schools where parents can submit their applications in case there is no government or aided school in the neighbourhood. A senior official from the department said, “We will soon release a list of such private schools and those schools should keep 25 per cent seats vacant for admissions under RTE quota.”

The process for RTE admissions begins at the end of December every year, and this year, it seems to be getting more delayed. “Every year, we used to issue notification by this time, but as there were some amendments to RTE Act, it needs to be cleared by the Chief Minister who is also the Primary and Secondary Education Minister. Once it is cleared by the CM, we will issue the notification,” said the official.

According to the department, there are more than 48,000 government schools in the state, and there is at least one government school in neighbourhood as prescribed by RTE.“There is no question of filling RTE seats at private schools from the next academic year as there are enough government schools in the neighbourhood as prescribed by the act,” said an official.

Parents waiting to admit their wards at private english medium schools  are disappointed. “What is the use of RTE then if they are giving admissions at government schools?” said a parent.Another parent said, “Even we parents from lower middle class families wish to admit our kids to private english medium schools. As it was difficult earlier with high fees, RTE was a boon, but now the government has snatched the rights of our kids by amending it.”