The demand for seats in private schools under the 25 per cent quota for children from underprivileged families under the Right to Education (RTE) Act outstrips the availability of seats across the State.
As against the availability of 1.06 lakh seats across Karnataka, 1.54 lakh applications have been submitted for private school seats under the quota.
This suggests an increasing demand for private school education, even as Education Department officials say that a contributing factor is multiple applications made by parents to several schools.
Of the 34 educational districts in Karnataka, the number of seats available in private schools under quota is higher than the applications in only 12. They are Sirsi, Yadgir, Chikkodi, Mysore, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, Gadag, Gulbarga, Bagalkot and Belgaum.
The gap between demand and availability of seats is strikingly high in some districts, including Bangalore South, Bangalore North, Bangalore Rural, Davangere and Bellary. Here, going by the numbers, each seat has two or more applicants.
