BMC EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR RTE ADMISSIONS TILL TODAY

students allot ted seats under the Right to Edu cation (RTE) quota can confirm their admissions till Saturday (today) in the fifth and fina round, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced on Friday

Under the RTE Act, an online admissions are being held for 25% of seats at the entry-level — kindergarten or Class 1 — in 334 unaided, non-minority private schools in Mumbai.

The seats are reserved for underprivileged students who are entitled to free education from Class 1 to 8. The govern ment reimburses the schools.

Of the 203 students selected for the fifth round on April 25 only 13 have so far confirmed their seats, just a day before the admission deadline.

Although this year the num ber of applicants was at an al time high with 9,426 vying for 7,449 seats, only 29% of these students have confirmed admis sions till now in the four rounds conducted between March 6 and April 25.

“We are astonished at how few students have confirmed their admissions after a promis ing start,” said Mahesh Palkar education officer, BMC.

He attributed it to students not getting admission to the school of their choice.

Officials said that the num ber of students admitted under RTE is increasing gradually every year.

Under the Act, 1,069 students were admitted to various schools in 2014- 2015, 1,688 in 2015-16 and 2,506 in 2016-17.

“The response to the quota is getting better every year,” said Nisaar Khan, education inspec tor.