Only 16 students admitted under RTE so far in Chamarajanagar dist

Mysuru: Parents in Chamarajanagar district have responded poorly to free seats provided under the Right to Education (RTE) in city’s premier schools.
Only 16 of 149 seats in 21 aided schools in five taluks of the district have been filled. As many as 51 applications were received.
Under the RTE Act, 25% of seats in private unaided schools are reserved for students from Economically Weaker Section. After the amendments to Right to Education (RTE) in 2019-20, applications have been on decline in the district. As per the amendment, parents cannot admit their wards in a private, unaided school under the RTE quota if there is a government or government-aided school in their locality. The amendment has also freed a number of private unaided schools of the obligation to accommodate children under the RTE quota, which has, in turn, resulted in applicants for seats under the quota witnessing a decline.
The district authorities used to receive at least 3,000 to 3,500 applications every academic year since RTE was implemented, but the admissions under the quota have declined after the amendment.
Of the 21 aided schools in the border district, Chamarajanagar has seven, Kollegal and Hanur has four each, Yelandur taluk has three and Gundlupet has two.
According to official sources, the district authorities have received only 43 applications for the first round of allotment of seats, eight applications for the second round of allotment seats and the district has not received any applications for third round of allotment of seats.
Only 12 children took admission in the first round of seat allotment against the 43 applications received and four children took admissions against the eight applications received in the second round, said sources.
In the initial days of the implementation of the Act, a large number of parents evinced interest in enrolling their wards under the RTE quota in private schools. Since most parents are keen to enrol their children at private unaided schools, where the medium of instruction is English, they are unlikely to apply for seats under the RTE quota,” Gundlupet block education officer S C Shivamurthy told TOI.
Chamarajanagar District Soliga Tribal Welfare Association vice president Madegowda said the government must provide wide publicity for successful implementation of this act as most parents are ignorant about these benefits in the backward district.
Chamarajanagar deputy director of public instruction S C Manjunath told TOI that parents can still apply for seats under the RTE quota as seats were available in aided schools across the district.