Few takers for RTE seats, Govt may scale it down

Nischith N. | NT

Bengaluru, Jan. 29 The demand for seats under Right to Education (RTE) quota in the state has come down for the third straight year and this may force the government to reduce the number of seats next academic year.

According to the reports, there are no takers for nearly 60 per cent of RTE seats in private aided and unaided schools across Karnataka. “Education districts such as Uttara Kannada, Bengaluru, Bidar and Dakshina Kannada had the fewest number of applications for RTE seats. There are various reasons, including duplication of application, e-ID verification. So most of them will be rejected,” said a senior official from the education department.

The reports say that for the present academic year, there were 8,980 applicants for the 14,042 seats available this year and only 3,032 were filled across Karnataka. So the education department is planning to reduce 3,000 seats (11,042 total) for the next academic year (2022-23). The last date to submit applications is March 3.

“Officials admit that there are various reasons to lower the number of applications. The government should not cut down the seats. The department should identify the problem and try to reach out to eligible people and provide them the right information and proper rules. First the government opened the doors for students to be admitted in any school. Later, it restricted parents from educating their child in the school of their choice, and this could be a reason for fewer applications,” says Sridevi, a NGO volunteer.

It is also claimed that the number of students enrolling in government schools is on the rise due to the pandemic-induced economic slowdown. “Parents feel that sending their children to government schools and aided schools is much better compared to private schools as it will always be a burden. The economic capacity of several parents was seriously affected,” Sridevi further added.

It may be recalled that the department used to receive nearly two lakh RTE applications across Karnataka every year, but now it has come down to a few thousand since 2019. According to the data by the Department, in 2019- 20, the number of applications across the state was reduced to just 17,720.

Bengaluru Urban received only 1,848 applications in 2020-21, and only 648 children got admitted under the RTE quota.

In 2017-18, there were 2.1 lakh applications across Karnataka, out of which 1 lakh children got admitted.

Under Section 12 (1) (C) of the RTE, children belonging to “weak” sections and “disadvantaged” groups of society must be provided free and compulsory elementary-level education. It also says that these students must make up at least 25% of the strength in Class 1 in all schools. The weak sections include children from SC, ST or OBC communities, while the disadvantaged groups include orphans, trans-students, children with disabilities, etc. Those from the general category, whose families do not earn more than Rs 3.5 lakh annually, also qualify for the RTE quota.