Four city schools take RTE to slum children’s doorstep

Bucking the trend of city schools soft-pedalling on admitting children from impoverished families under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, four schools are going all out to ensure the 25% quota is filled this year.

Bucking the trend of city schools soft-pedalling on admitting children from impoverished families under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, four schools are going all out to ensure the 25% quota is filled this year.

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On Thursday, the schools run by Goenka and Associates Educational Trust in Goregaon and Thane collected 33 applications by knocking on doors in the slums in their vicinity and informing residents their nursery seats were available to them.

Lakshadham School, Goregaon; Playmate Pre Primary School, Goregaon; Vasant Vihar School, Thane, and Thane Police School are among the first in the city to follow the new RTE norms that require them to identify and admit students from economically or socially weaker sections at the entry level.

“Many children in our neighbourhood do not attend schools though there are so many educational institutions in the area as families are scared or reluctant to approach big schools,” said a spokesperson for the trust.

On the first day of their drive, the school staff visited over 1,000 households within a three-kilometer radius —Pathanwadi, Mhada Complex and Ekatmik Bal Vikas Aanganwadi in Goregaon, and Kalwa, Mumbra, Ghodbunder Road, Vartak Nagar, Upovan and other areas in Thane.

The trust has published handbills in English and Marathi explaining the application process, and has even composed a song on how school is fun.