BIG update on UP school admission process, Yogi Adityanath govt removes requirement of...

In a big relief to parents, the Uttar Pradesh government has restructured the school admission process for entry into unaided private schools under the RTE Act. The government has removed the mandatory requirement of a child's Aadhaar card for school admissions, which was earlier mandatory to submit for online applications.

According to the revised process, Aadhaar will now be required only for the disbursal of financial assistance under the RTE Act. The reimbursement amount will be transferred exclusively to Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts of parents. The move is viewed to simplify enrolment and reduce hurdles faced by families from disadvantaged sections.

UP govt revises school admission process

In the revised school admission process, parents will need to provide details of an Aadhaar-linked bank account while filling out the application form. Now,  Aadhaar information of at least one parent will be required, but not that of the child. All District Magistrates, who also serve as presidents of the District Education Project Committees, recieved an official order that admissions under Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 will be capped at 25% of the total intake capacity of the entry-level class (pre-primary or Class 1) in unaided private schools within each district.

Here is the age-based eligibility criteria:  Children aged 3 years or above but below 4 years will be eligible for nursery, while Children aged 4 years or above but below 5 years will be eligible for Lower Kindergarten (LKG). Children aged 6 to 7 years will be eligible for Class 1. 

According to revised guidelines, the document verification will be conducted at the level of the Block Education Officer and the Basic Shiksha Adhikari. An online lottery system will be conducted in two stages for school allocation. The first stage involves randomisation, where all verified and approved applications are shuffled digitally and assigned lottery numbers. The second stage involves schools being allotted in batches of 100 applications based on parental preferences and ascending lottery numbers.
The final allotment list will be approved by the District Magistrate.