Phase three of RTE admissions begins across state

MUMBAI: The third phase of admission under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, has begun across the state. At the end of the second phase, 51,155 students have been allotted seats out of the total intake capacity of 196,511. Along with this, the state education department is planning to keep allotting seats to registered students till each and every student manages to secure admission in schools.

Last year, due to several reasons, many students were left without any seat even while there were a good amount of seats left with the department. One of the reasons was lack of awareness of the privilege of RTE admissions that are free-of-cost for students belonging to the marginalised category. Further, the slightly complicated admission process resulted in many parents not taking admission for their wards. To avoid a repeat, this year, a lot of time will be given to students and parents.

A senior official who looks after RTE admissions in the state education department, said, “Even if the academic year begins (June 15) in schools, we won’t stop the admission process till each and every student who has registered is allotted a seat in the school.”

As far as the BMC is concerned, after the first round or phase 1, nearly 8,341 seats are still available in 347 schools in Mumbai. In the first round, 3,239 students were selected, out of which 2,080 were admitted.