Pune: The school education department has released the detailed schedule for the RTE (Right to Education) admission process.
Starting Monday, July 22, parents of children selected for admission will receive an SMS on their registered mobile numbers. Parents must get their documents verified by the respective taluka-level verification committees between July 23 and July 31.
As per the Bombay High Court's decision, the selection list and waiting list of eligible students for admission will be published on July 20 at https://student.maharashtra.gov.in/adm_portal.
The lottery for RTE 25% admissions for the academic year 2024-25 was drawn on June 7, 2024, in the presence of the Education Commissioner. However, due to an intervention petition filed in the High Court, the lists were not published. Now, following the court's final decision, the lists are being released.
A total of 242,516 students applied for RTE admissions, but only 105,223 seats are available. Out of these, 93,009 students have been selected for admission, while 71,276 students are on the waiting list.
For the 2024-25 academic year, parents of children selected through the online lottery for RTE 25% admissions must visit the taluka-level verification centers in their district for document scrutiny.
The primary education director, Sharad Gosavi, has advised parents not to rely solely on SMS notifications but also to check the status of their application on the RTE portal using their application number and to follow all instructions provided.
Following the High Court's decision, the school education department's notification dated February 9, 2024, and subsequent circulars dated March 6, 2024, and April 3, 2024, by the Director of Education (Primary), Pune, have been annulled.
Certain institutions had filed intervention petitions in public interest litigations, highlighting that some children were admitted under the 25% reserved seats as per the government notification dated February 9, 2024.
According to the High Court's verdict, the admissions of those children will remain intact. However, under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, it is mandatory to provide 25% reserved admissions to students from disadvantaged and weaker sections in any circumstances.
Therefore, schools that have admitted children under the 25% reserved seats must also admit students from these sections in the first grade/nursery under RTE 25%.
If these admissions exceed the capacity of the first grade/nursery classes, the concerned institutions/schools must inform the relevant education officers (Primary), district councils/administrative officers, municipal corporations/municipal councils, and regional deputy directors of education, and these admissions must be regularized.
