Five months after the Punjab government launched an online portal and invited applications from children belonging to economically weaker sections for admission to private unaided schools, questions are being raised over the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in the 2026-2027 academic session.
Social activists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have flagged shortcomings in the school education department’s admission process under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act. Their concerns include a narrow application window, the low number of admissions, lack of adequate publicity about the admission exercise, cumbersome procedures, and difficulties being faced by eligible children in securing admission.
In letters to the chief secretary and top officials of the school education department last month, the Action Committee for RTE, an NGO, raised concerns over the restrictive admission process. It said that despite Section 15 of the RTE Act and Rule 10 of the Punjab RTE Rules, 2011, allowing admissions up to four months after the state start of the academic session and prohibiting denial of admission during the academic year, the Online RTE Admission Portal was open for only 17 days, from April 16 to May 2.
The NGO cited a Comptroller and Auditor General of India audit report, tabled in the Punjab Assembly in 2017, which estimated that around 75,000 children become eligible for admission under the Act every year. In 2026-27, only 386 children applied through the admission portal and about 250 were admitted, leaving thousands of children deprived of statutory entitlement, it claimed. Section 12(1)(c) mandates that private schools not receiving government aid reserve at least 25% of seats in entry-level classes (ranging from nursery to Class 1) for children from weaker and disadvantaged groups for free education.
{{/usCountry}}The NGO cited a Comptroller and Auditor General of India audit report, tabled in the Punjab Assembly in 2017, which estimated that around 75,000 children become eligible for admission under the Act every year. In 2026-27, only 386 children applied through the admission portal and about 250 were admitted, leaving thousands of children deprived of statutory entitlement, it claimed. Section 12(1)(c) mandates that private schools not receiving government aid reserve at least 25% of seats in entry-level classes (ranging from nursery to Class 1) for children from weaker and disadvantaged groups for free education.
{{/usCountry}}Punjab has approximately 7,806 private unaided schools.
Director, school education (elementary) Harkirat Kaur did not respond to calls or messages seeking comment on queries till the time of filing this report.
Action Committee for RTE coordinator Onkar Nath, a former additional deputy comptroller and auditor general, said the government did not undertake any statewide media campaign or awareness drive to inform eligible families, unlike its publicity efforts for other welfare schemes. The organisation also submitted a list of 17 children found eligible, who, according to it, were facing difficulties in securing admission due to refusal by schools, incorrect entries, objections regarding certificates and other administrative and technical issues.
Social activist and former IAS officer Jagmohan Singh Raju, on whose petition the high court last year directed private schools to reserve seats for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, claimed that state authorities were treating the process as a “formality” and were reluctant to share any information. “They need to undertake the admission process strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Act and in a transparent manner,” he said.
Another social activist Kirpal Singh, who has been advocating for the implementation of the RTE Act in Punjab for the past 15 years, also said the department should make serious efforts to fill all the seats as provided under the Act.
After the RTE Act was enacted in 2009, the then government in Punjab framed the Punjab RTE Rules in 2011. The rules required that children from disadvantaged groups to first seek admission in government schools and allowed them to approach unaided schools for admission only after getting a no-objection certificate from government schools citing non-availability of seats or other reasons. As a result, no children from disadvantaged groups were admitted to private schools in the state under the RTE Act. In February 2025, the high court struck down Rule 7(4) of the Punjab RTE Rules, 2011 and ordered immediate implementation of the EWS quota.