Parents from disadvantaged sections have two weeks to approach a private school near their residence to seek admission for their wards into entry-level classes as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE).
A press release issued by the matriculation schools directorate on Monday said the deadline for applying for school admission under the 25 per cent reservation for the economically backward had been extended.
The State government in April had passed an order detailing the ways in which the Act would be implemented by the directorate of matriculation schools.
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Parents will need to identify the school near their residence and submit the application forms with the required documents through their respective chief education officers (CEOs).
The forms are available at the CEO’s office in every district, free of cost.
Though the Act has been in effect and the admission process should have been completed by May 20, private schools have resisted recruiting students under the 25 per cent reservation quota citing ‘lack of clarity’, among other reasons.
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One of the contentious issues was over what would be construed as entry-level class. While schools wanted it to be class I as per the definition of primary school (classes I to V), officials indicated it was lower kindergarten (LKG).
The lack of awareness among parents has also had a telling effect with many vacant seats going without takers: just 1,256 applications were issued to fill up 4,389 out of a total of 17,671 seats in the LKG sections in 233 schools supervised by the inspector of matriculation schools in Kancheepuram district. Even out of the 1,256 applications, just 568 were found to be in compliance with the conditions laid down in the RTE Act.
In the nursery and primary schools categories, supervised by the district elementary education office (DEEO), Kancheepuram, around 2,500 seats in LKG sections in 338 nursery and primary schools were earmarked for the 25 percent reservation scheme. Little over 200 schools have complied with the instructions received from the DEEO in this regard.
In the upper primary section (from classes VI to VIII), just 44 seats in class VI of 233 schools have been earmarked for admission under this scheme. A total of 41 applications were issued and out of this only 22 applications, which complied with the conditions for admission under this category, have been honoured, official sources said.
- The admission procedure was to be completed by May 20
- Private schools have resisted recruiting students citing lack of clarity