3 months on, EWS students still wait for seats

MUMBAI: For the past three months, hundreds of students from economically weaker sections (EWS) have been waiting to go to a school, under the Right to Education

MUMBAI: For the past three months, hundreds of students from economically weaker sections (EWS) have been waiting to go to a school, under the Right to Education (RTE) quota. Even though Mumbai schools opened in June, the admission process for the reserved seats is still not over.

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Under the RTE act enforced in 2010, students from families earning less than Rs1 lakh in a year are entitled to free seats at the entry-level in 318 unaided and non-minority schools in the city. They do not have to pay school fees till Class 8 and the government reimburses the schools. These seats are filled through an online process by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Only one round has been completed after the admission process began in February. Though students were allotted seats for the second round on July 4, the department has still not found the status of the allocations, whether the schools have admitted them or not.

According to the figures released by the BMC department, out of 1,618 allotments, around 350 secured admissions and the rest were not reported or rejected by the schools. Among them, the status of 105 students is still unclear. These students were allotted seats in non-state board schools but the department doesn’t know if they have been admitted.