Congress urges govt to start RTE admissions in pvt schools

“Usually the school admissions will start from April 2 and end by May last week. However, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reopening of schools is also getting delayed. In addition, the admissions to private schools under RTE have not started so far this year,” Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president KS Alagiri said on Friday.

As private schools have already admitted the students and started online classes for the new academic session, many children who want to seek admissions through RTE were affected, the Congress leader pointed out. “Therefore, as per the guidelines given by the High Court, the State government should immediately take steps to begin RTE admissions and ensure 25 per cent quota in private schools for students coming from economically backward families,” he added.

Alleging that the RTE admissions were not properly implemented in the State, Alagiri claimed that only about 70 per cent of the total RTE quota (25 per cent every year) has been filled from 2014 to 2019. “As the remaining 30 per cent could not be filled through RTE quota, many students have been affected,” he added. Alagiri alleged that due to delay in payment of fees from the State to private schools for the students admitted under RTE quota, the number of admissions through quota in private institutions has reduced. “Therefore, the government should take steps to clear the dues,” he added.