20 private schools still silent on EWS seats

CHANDIGARH: Six days after missing the deadline, 20 private recognised schools are yet to send any information to the UT education department on reserved seats and the number of forms received for these.

Of Chandigarh’s 77 private recognised minority and nonminority schools, only 57 have submitted the details, and even among those, 10 private schools have filed information that doesn’t match with their total reserved seats. Their governing bodies have orders to send the details again.

The UT education department had given the schools until January 25 to submit the details of all the forms received for reserved seats.

The private schools were to specify the number of their entry-level seats along with age criteria, count of seats reserved under the RTE (Right to Education) Act for the EWS (economically weaker section) category, total forms received with income certificate, number of forms received with the income certificate, and the figures of forms for disadvantaged category.

The details received from these schools suggest that the institutes received 3,223 applications for 553 seats. Ten schools that have sent mismatched information received 695 forms. The education department was expecting this number to be a lot higher, considering that the parents would have applied in multiple schools. With no announcement of the extension of the admission date for reserved categories under the RTE Act and land allotment scheme, the private schools have started conducting draw of lots for nursery seats.

Strawberry Fields high school conducted its draw of lots on January 29, since by then then was no intimation on the further extension of deadline from the UT education department.

The school had received 180 forms for 40 seats under reserved category. Gurukul Global School held its draw of lots on January 31 after getting 138 forms for 10 reserved seats. KBDAV and Chitkara International schools have their draws for the reserved categories coming up on February 5.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, requires schools to reserve 25% of their seats for children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups. This is provided by Section 12 (1)(C) of the Act. Of the 25% seats reserved in Chandigarh schools, 15% are under the land allotment scheme.