Only 45 students admitted under RTE so far in DK

A huge number of seats reserved under the Right to Education Act (RTE) in Dakshina Kannada district are likely to remain vacant during the academic year.

As many as 479 seats were reserved under the RTE Act. In the first round, of the 59 seats allotted, only 38 students were admitted to schools. In the second phase, nine seats were allotted and seven students were admitted. With the allotment of seats being in progress, some more seats are likely to be filled in due course of time, stated sources.

SMSs on the availability of seats have been sent to parents who had applied for seats under RTE Act, DDPI K Sudhakar told DH when contacted.

In fact, out of 479 available seats, the Mangaluru North block has the highest with 162, followed by Mangaluru South (104), Bantwal (81), Belthangady (44), Puttur (36), Moodbidri (27) and Sullia (25).

In the first round, five seats were identified under RTE in Bantwal and the number of admissions has remained nill. Though one seat was allotted in Belthangady, the seat remained vacant.

Of 27 seats allotted under RTE, 24 students were admitted in the first round and out of six seats allotted, all six were filled in the second round in Mangaluru North.

Of 18 allotted seats in Mangaluru South, 10 were admitted in the first round and one out of two seats was filled in the second round at Mangaluru South.

In Moodbidri, four students were admitted to six allotted seats in the first round and no seats were allotted in the second round.

In Puttur, no students were admitted for two seats allotted in the first round. While in Sullia, no seats were allotted for the first and second rounds.

“Following a drastic decline in the number of enrollments in government schools, the government had amended the RTE Act in December 2018, in order to give priority to government schools. Thus, many private schools had been kept out of the ambit of the RTE quota,” said sources.

“Most neighbourhoods have government or aided schools in their vicinity. According to the amendment, a child can be admitted to a private school under RTE quota only if there are no government or aided schools in the vicinity,” added sources.

Admission to seats under RTE declined after a majority of private schools were kept out of the RTE quota, as per sources.

Prior to the amendment to RTE Act, more than 1,600 seats were reserved under RTE in schools across the district.