Mumbai: “Do not submit fake income certificates for (RTE) admissions,” the civic education department has warned. Parents have been repeatedly warned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to not forge any documents to secure RTE admissions for their wards.
Under the RTE Act, students from weak economic backgrounds can secure free education till Class VIII in private, unaided schools. The education of these students is entirely funded by the state government right from books to uniforms.
These admissions are allotted through an online lottery, by the education department of the BMC. But lately, the department claims, parents have been submitting false documents in order to secure free education under RTE. A senior official, who oversees RTE admissions said, “We often find parents trying to show a low annual family income.
They try to forge income certificates just to ensure they are classified under the ‘economically weak sections’ and avail the benefit of RTE.” The entire RTE admission process has been moved online and document verification centres have been set up to tackle such instances of forgery.
BMC education officer Mahesh Palkar says, “The entire process is online. Parents will have to submit documents to these verification centres, where our officials will cross-check them for discrepancies. We warn parents not to indulge in cheating.”
As a result of such fake submissions, students who are in genuine need do not get admissions under RTE. Chetna Desai, a parent, said, “There are limited seats under RTE and students who are in genuine need deserve to secure admissions. We should realise the RTE Act has been implemented to benefit and empower the economically weak sections of the society.”