The education department will set up a website to download forms for admission into 500 private schools across PMC and PCMC regions
line-up: Parents wait outside a school to receive admission forms for their children. File pic
The education department has announced the availability of 12,000 seats in 500 schools across PMC and PCMC regions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in the city.
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Line-up: Parents wait outside a school to receive admission forms for their children. File Pic
The seats are being made available under the 25 per cent quota, which has to be reserved by private schools under the RTE Act, for children belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) of society.
On a trial basis, the government this year has planned to conduct online entry-level admissions for the schools, centralising the process by developing a portal.
“The website for the RTE admissions will become functional by the end of February. The parents can download admission forms from this website and we are going to set up facilitation centres, where the forms can be submitted.
This will put an end to the long queues outside schools. Also by filling a single form, parents can ensure admission to their children in a private school in their vicinity,” said S Chocklingam, education commissioner.
“In the Pune region, including PMC and PCMC, there are around 12,000 seats available in 500 schools for RTE
admissions. Those schools that have already started the admission process and have allotted seats under RTE will be omitted in the new online process,” said Mahaveer Mane, state education director (primary).
According to the RTE Act, every private school has to reserve 25 per cent seats to students belonging to economically weaker section. After recent judgment by the Bombay High Court in the favour of private unaided minority schools, the RTE 25 per cent admissions are not applicable to these category of schools across the state.
It is mandatory for all other private aided and unaided schools to make available 25 per cent seats to students belonging to poorer sections of society.