The Gujarat Education Department has failed to meet the target of 81,258 approved applications.
According to reports, only 62,419 students could be given admission which was under the provision of 25 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and disadvantaged groups under the Right to Education Act (RTE).
Here's how the department is dealing with the issue:
The states' private schools gave provisional admissions to 65,441 underprivileged children. However, applications of over 3,022 were rejected
Meanwhile, the department is still giving hope to the ones not admitted
While commenting on the whole issue, principal secretary of education said:
'Despite increasing the seats from 60,000 to 82,000, keeping in mind the large number of applications received this year, the shortage in final admissions is due to the distance constraint stipulated in the Act. For over 15,000 approved applications, there is no seat available in private schools within the radius of 6 km. Though we cannot go beyond the Act's rules, if still any seat falls vacant after admissions, the remaining students will be accommodated,' said Sunaina Tomar as per the recent Indian Express report.
Admission rules:
Admissions are given in those schools which are within 6 km radius of the children's residence
Children who reside within 1 km radius of a particular school are given first preference
And when the seats are not filled, the applicant who stays within 3 km radius followed by 6 km radius is given first preference
Failure of Gujarat Education Department:
According to reports, over 15,817 admissions are still awaited, pointing out the failure of the Gujarat Education Department.
Moreover, the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) associated with the admissions are quite dissatisfied with the reasoning of the department and pointed out that the Internet Application that the department is using is not up to the mark.
It is said that the app fails to identify all school within 6 km radius.
Number of candidates getting admission:
The highest number of admissions has been approved in the following order:
Ahmedabad (both Municipal Corporation and district areas): 16,860
Meanwhile, the lowest number of students have been admitted in the tribal areas of the Dangs and Mahisagar i.e. 36 and 55 seats respectively.
Moreover, there are around ten categories under which admission to EWS and disadvantaged groups had to be ensured, but this rule has been modified now.
Details of new provision:
According to new provision, children belonging to general category with a family income below Rs 68,000 in urban areas and Rs 47,000 in rural areas will be eligible for admissions in 25 per cent reserved seats in unaided schools.
For any query related to admission under reserved category, all the candidates can check the official website of the department.