It is that time of the year when the parents are busy and tensed as they have to get their child admitted in school. The regular process of Admissions for LKG or Std 1 will commence from March end all those who want admission under RTE act, this article is for you.
Every private school to allocate 25% seats under the RTE Act for children from weaker sections for LKG and Standard One.
The Right of Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 grants every child of the age of six to 14 the right to have free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till the completion of elementary education.
Online form filling from February 20, 2018
List declared on April 2, 2018 on Lottery basis
Which are the schools in which the child can seek admission?
Parents residing in a particular ward can seek admission to their children in any of the government schools, private aided or unaided RTE quota schools (excluding those with minority educational institutions status) in their ward or in the adjacent wards. In private unaided schools, the RTE quota is limited to 25 per cent of the total strength of a classroom.
Who can apply to an unaided private school under RTE Act?
A child whose parent’s or guardian’s annual income is less than Rs 3.5 lakh per annum is eligible to apply under the RTE Act.
What is the area limit within which the parent can avail the benefit of RTE quota while admitting his/her ward?
RTE Act is based on the concept of neighbourhood schooling. In a city like Belagavi, the municipal ward is considered as a neighbourhood, hence a parent can apply for any number of schools (private aided or unaided) in the ward in which he/she lives. In case of rural area, the neighbourhood area is within one km from the area where the parent/child lives.
However, this year, in cities the Department of Public Instructions has decided to extend the neighbourhood concept to adjacent wards too. That is, a parent can apply under RTE to schools of the ward where they reside as well as to the schools in adjacent ward.
The Department of Public Instructions has published the list of neighbourhood schools. Check it here by entering the pincode of your area.
To how many schools can one child apply?
A child can apply to any number of schools in the neighbourhood. Seat allocation is based on the seat availability. Till last year a child was allowed to apply for only five schools, but the Department has removed the upper limit this year.
What is the age criteria for admitting the child?
Last year, the Karnataka government fixed the age for admitting children under RTE quota. Accordingly, a child in the age group of 3 years 10 months to 4 years 10 months is eligible to get admitted to LKG. And the age criteria for getting admission to 1st Std is 5 years 10 months to 6 years 10 months, as on 1st June of the academic year (2018-19).
How is the quota split among various categories of students?
The Act mandates every unaided school (except those with minority institution tag) to earmark at least 25 per cent of the strength of the entry class for the RTE quota. Of 25 per cent of the seats, 7.5 per cent of seats are reserved for children belonging to Scheduled Caste, 1.5 per cent for children belonging to Scheduled Tribe. The remaining 16 per cent of seats is provided to children to belonging to other categories. If the SC & ST quota remains unfilled, then it will be added to remaining categories of children belonging to disadvantaged group and vice versa.
What is the process of admission to RTE quota schools?
The Department of Primary and Secondary Education calls for online applications from parents to apply under RTE quota in the month of February every year. For 2018-19 From February 20 one can apply online
When will the online application process begin?
The online application process begins from Feb 20 and one can fill it online March 21, 2018.
What is the mode of application? What basic info and documents parents should submit?
Applications should be filed online through the Department’s website. This year the Department says it has made arrangements in the offices of Block Education Officers, Belagavi One Centres and Cyber Cafes for parents to file online application.
Apart from filling the basic information online, the applicant should submit income certificate (not applicable to SC/ST candidates) and proof of residence for the purpose of establishing place of residence of parents. Residential proof should be either EPIC card or Aadhaar card or Aadhaar acknowledgement slip. Parents belonging to SC or ST community should submit caste certificate.
Parents also need to submit birth certificate of the child, or a record given by anganwadi worker or Auxiliary Midwife or a self attested affidavit, as a proof of child’s age.
Is it mandatory for kids availing RTE quota to have Aadhaar number?
This year, the State government has made it mandatory for the kids and parents seeking admission to have enrolled under Aadhaar. Parents, while filing online application have to provide Aadhaar details of the child as well as one of the parents. The Department will verify the Aadhaar number and biometric information with UIDAI and get it confirmed. This, according to the Education Department, will help in de-duplication of applications.
What next after the online application is filed?
Once the deadline for submitting application expires, the Department will scrutinise the applications and SMSes will be sent to parents if there are errors in applications. They shall rectify the errors online or through the jurisdictional Block Education Officer before the prescribed date. Later, the list of eligible candidates will be generated online.
On what grounds can an application be rejected?
An application can be rejected if the income ceiling of the parent exceeds the limit, or if there are errors in the information provided during application.
How to file complaints related to RTE admission?
This year, the Department had made RTE complaint system online. Parents can visit this link and file a complaint. The Department has assured of addressing each of these complaints.
What after the list of eligible candidates is out?
The next procedure is selecting children through lottery system. This happens only if the number of application exceeds the number of seats available. Lottery will take place online and students who are lucky enough will get through. After the third round of lottery, final list of candidates will be announced and admission to schools will begin in March.
How much fee should a parent pay for the child admitted under RTE quota?
The parent need not pay any fee or donation to the school however prestigious or expensive the school is. The State government will reimburse a fixed amount of fee in installments to respective schools against submission of admission records.
But, if the school asks for extra fee to provide facilities that help integrate RTE children with other children, such as shoes, socks, uniform etc, whether to pay it or not is a call the parents have to take.
The original article has been posted on http://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/