Admissions under RTE extended up to August 10

After several requests from parents and education activists, the state education department has now extended the deadline for admissions under the RTE quota until August 10. BMC's Education Department, that conducts the admission process has recently released a circular announcing the extension.

This year, a total of 7,449 seats were open for admissions across 334 schools in the city for which the BMC had got over 9,000 applicants, a trend which was observed in the city for the first time in the last four years. However, when it came to confirmations, only 30 per cent (2,798 admissions) were confirmed by the end of fifth round which ended on March 29.

An additional round was started from June 19 to fill the vacant seats at various schools under the 25 per cent quota. However, several activists had demanded that an extension be given as most parents were not aware of the additional round. Despite the extension, activists are skeptical about the number of admissions that the round would translate into. "There seem to be some technical glitches. We are trying to find out as to how many parents have actually managed to register," said Sudhir Paranjape, an activist from Anudanit Shiksha Bachao Samiti.