Nearly 1.19 lakh applications were received as of Saturday evening — the last day for applying for admission to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in Tamil Nadu.
The Directorate of Matriculation Schools received the applications through its online portal, www.rte.tnschools.gov.in, which was created this year to take the process completely online. Officials said they expected to receive a few more applications till 11.59 p.m. on Saturday night and as of 6 p.m., the application count stood at 1,19,365.
The application process began on April 22 and officials said there was a lot more awareness this year about the admission process. District-level officials and schools were instructed to orient parents if needed and inform them about the availability of seats. Parents could list five schools as their options under the online application process.
The intake capacity this year for entry-level seats in all private schools in the State was around 1.21 lakh seats. Vellore district has received 8,694 applications so far, which is the highest in the State. Chennai has received 6,961 applications so far, the data indicated.
“A quick check of the applications and whether the documents needed have been attached will be carried out, following which, lists will be prepared for provisional admissions. Parents will be intimated about the provisional admissions through an SMS and schools too have been instructed to display the information prominently on notice boards on their campus,” said an official from the School Education Department.
Certificate submission
After the parents receive a notification about the admission, they will be required to submit the necessary certificates and documents to the institution to complete the process.
Under the RTE Act, private schools need to set aside 25% of their entry-level seats for students from economically weaker sections of society. This year, the School Education Department also brought in CBSE schools in the State to put up their seats online on the RTE portal for the benefit of students seeking admissions.