Students’ Aadhaar card might be necessary for RTE admissions in Pune

Education department has sought the state government’s guidance on whether or not to accept the children’s Aadhaar card as a necessary document

As the online application process for admission to 25% reserved seats in private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act is slated to begin in the next couple of days, the education department has sought the state government’s guidance on whether or not to accept the children’s Aadhaar card as a necessary document in this admission process. The director of primary education, Sharad Gosavi, informed that the facility of filling the application form in the admission process will be available only after the said guidance is received.

As per the information shared by the education department, 25% seats are reserved in private schools for admission of children from economically- weaker and disadvantaged sections (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

As per the information shared by the education department, 25% seats are reserved in private schools for admission of children from economically- weaker and disadvantaged sections. For admission of children to these seats, the online admission process is implemented centrally by the primary education department.

Gosavi said, “The process of school registration under this has been completed and now, the process of applying for admission to the available seats will start soon. The Aadhaar card is mandatory for government benefit schemes. Accordingly, the admission process for 25% reserved seats under the RTE is also a government scheme. Therefore, there is a possibility that children will need Aadhaar cards to avail this scheme. However, many children do not have an Aadhar card at the first stage of school admission.”

It is against this backdrop that the state government’s guidance has been sought as to whether the children can participate in the admission process if they do not have an Aadhaar card, and whether they can be given admission on the basis of the receipt received at the time of availing the Aadhaar card. “There is a possibility of receiving instructions on this in the next two days, and children who have lost their parents during the Covid-19 pandemic period will also be accommodated in this admission process. Instructions have been sought from the government regarding which documents are required for this process as well,” Gosavi said.

Talking about this year’s RTE admission process, Kishore Gangale, a parent, said, “Already, the process is delayed and now again, they are demanding some new documents. Parents are fed up of this long process. Last year too, I had applied for the process but they rejected our application form citing inadequate documents as reason.”