To help the children of not so privileged classes, Government has introduced the schemes under Right to Education Act, so that children of poor families can also get admission in good schools. Where as one feels that there will be long ques of poor persons to get their children admitted in good schools, but as reported in Times of India, the RTE admissions are too less. One of the reasons may be Lack of Awareness ? How can Social efforts / Local Broadcasters Help?
Against 1.15 lakh seats available in the state under the Right to Education Act, only 37,000 have been filled so far.
As compared to last year, the number of students from the backward and poor segments seeking admissions to schools has gone down by 50%. Prompted by the poor response, the state education department has appointed a steering committee to study the loopholes in the process, though it is quite evident that going online has had a negative impact.
The state education department started online admissions last year in cities like Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Kolhapur, Nagpur etc. This year, it was extended to the entire state.
Experts say that lack of awareness among parents and students and also the state government's failure in propagating it the right way are responsible for the poor response. Activist Matin Mujawar said, "The scheme is essentially for the economically backward. Most parents are construction workers, migrants, security persons among others who are illiterate about the online process. This was pointed out to the education officers, but they insisted on continuing with the online process. The results were on expected lines."
A total of 77,000 applications were received. Of them, only 37,000 admissions have been completed so far.....