JAIPUR: The state has admitted 2.75 lakh students under the Right to Education (RTE) in 2022-23 which is the highest in the country in a year.
The Act is mandated to provide admission to economically poor and marginalised sections. In the state, only 5% of the admissions under the criteria is grabbed by ST students while their share in the population is almost 14%. Also, Rajasthan stood 7th in terms of population in the country but it is number one in RTE admission raises questions on the admission process.
The admissions have jumped the total admissions under RTE to nine lakhs which is also the highest intake in the country. The experts have pointed out that the time has come for the state to review its policy by focusing on providing seats under RTE to deserving students.
This year in the first RTE admission session in April-May, 1.38 lakh admissions took place in class I. Thereafter, the second admission session took place for pre-primary Classes in February which received 2.20 forms against the estimated seats of 1.50 lakh seats.
Officials have confirmed that the state is leading in terms of having the highest number of students admitted under RTE followed by Madhya Pradesh.
Commenting on the trend, K B Kothari, a former policy planner, UNICEF said that the high turnout is due to casual rules of the RTE.
“The income criteria of Rs 2.5 lakh per annum for general and OBCs communities is deserving but often government and news reports point out that those with high-income group families are taking advantage of the income criteria by just submitting an affidavit,” said Kothari.
He recommends that the financial background of students should be verified thoroughly before admission and due checks before the new academic year.
An official in the government department said that of the total admission, almost 40% comes from OBCs, 25% SCs and 30% from general class. “Sad to say that deserving families are not able to reap the benefits of the Act. The reason STs are way behind in numbers is due to a lack of awareness of the admission drives. Also, in the ST-dominated areas you will not find a good number of private schools,” said the official.
The Act is mandated to provide admission to economically poor and marginalised sections. In the state, only 5% of the admissions under the criteria is grabbed by ST students while their share in the population is almost 14%. Also, Rajasthan stood 7th in terms of population in the country but it is number one in RTE admission raises questions on the admission process.
The admissions have jumped the total admissions under RTE to nine lakhs which is also the highest intake in the country. The experts have pointed out that the time has come for the state to review its policy by focusing on providing seats under RTE to deserving students.
This year in the first RTE admission session in April-May, 1.38 lakh admissions took place in class I. Thereafter, the second admission session took place for pre-primary Classes in February which received 2.20 forms against the estimated seats of 1.50 lakh seats.
Officials have confirmed that the state is leading in terms of having the highest number of students admitted under RTE followed by Madhya Pradesh.
Commenting on the trend, K B Kothari, a former policy planner, UNICEF said that the high turnout is due to casual rules of the RTE.
“The income criteria of Rs 2.5 lakh per annum for general and OBCs communities is deserving but often government and news reports point out that those with high-income group families are taking advantage of the income criteria by just submitting an affidavit,” said Kothari.
He recommends that the financial background of students should be verified thoroughly before admission and due checks before the new academic year.
An official in the government department said that of the total admission, almost 40% comes from OBCs, 25% SCs and 30% from general class. “Sad to say that deserving families are not able to reap the benefits of the Act. The reason STs are way behind in numbers is due to a lack of awareness of the admission drives. Also, in the ST-dominated areas you will not find a good number of private schools,” said the official.
