RTE admissions: NGO finds little compliance by schools

TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School has admitted the maximum number of students in LKG under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, according to data revealed through Right To Information (RTI) Act.

People’s Watch, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) here, had sought details from the Department of School Education under the RTI Act of the number of students admitted to educational institutions in Madurai district in 2014-15.

According to the information released by officials, TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School had admitted 75 students.

In all, 156 schools in the district had admitted children in LKG and sixth standard under the RTE last academic year.

Though the Department of School Education officials claimed that they instructed private educational institutions to admit students in RTE as per the norms prescribed by Government of India, lack of awareness among the public and parents had led to poor rate of admission.

Against a target of admitting 2,509 students under RTE by private matriculation schools in 2013-14, a total of 1,103 students alone had benefitted.

Though the target was not achieved in 2014-15, there was moderate improvement as schools had admitted 1,795 students against a target of 2,519 students.