Nagpur: The state govt has extended the RTE admission application deadline till February 2, from the earlier January 28. Under Right To Education (RTE) quota, 25% seats are reserved in all schools (except unaided minority institutions) for free education of students who fall under different categories defined by the govt.
In Nagpur district, there are 7,005 seats available under RTE and each year over three times more applications are received. The surprising thing however is that despite so many applications coming in for every seat, Nagpur still records vacant seats in each academic year. Same is the case with big cities like Mumbai and Pune. This is because parents want admission in big brand CBSE schools of Nagpur, and if the don’t make the cut, they withdraw en-mass.
As of Monday evening, Nagpur district had received 26,000 applications streaming in online. The state govt has made the entire RTE process online, which starts with parents submitting their application along with relevant documents. They have to choose their preferred schools, starting with their top choice in the number one column. The list of schools is available in the online portal and parents simply have to select from the drop-down menu on screen.
Once the applications are filed, the govt announces a date for the lottery. The online lottery is necessitated due to applications always being more than available seats. The online lottery results are released on the portal and a message is sent via SMS to parents about their selection.
The parents then have to physically visit the school and submit original documents (birth certificate, caste certificate etc) and complete the admission formalities.
