Trichy: From this year, seats reserved in CBSE schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act too will be filled through the centralized admission process carried out by the directorate of matriculation school (DMS) in the state. While CBSE schools follow the conventional method of inviting the hard copy of application to fill seats under RTE, the state government had switched to the online mode in 2017.
RTE seats in the state-run schools are filled under a centralised system whereby parents submit online applications choosing five schools of their choice featuring on the web portal of the DMS. However, CBSE schools here have been filling their RTE seats unilaterally by calling for the hard copy of applications.
Amidst complaints from parents that the list of CBSE schools has not been featuring on the portal for admissions under the RTE act, DMS will oversee admissions of the CBSE schools as well from this year. The chief education officer has asked CBSE schools in the district to share details on the number of seats available for admission under the RTE act. The same will be added to RTE web portal so that parents residing close to these schools can opt for these seats. “The list of CBSE schools will be made available on the web portal by Tuesday,” said CEO M Ramakrishnan. “But most of the seats in these schools would have already been filled as the academic year for these schools starts in April,” he said.
Seats that went unfilled in these CBSE schools will be filled through the centralized system. While most of the CBSE schools had filled their RTE seats, there were some schools for which the academic calendar started in June as for the state board, said Padma Srinivasan, president of Rockcity Sahodaya School complex, an academic forum of CBSE schools around Trichy.
S Gnanamani, a parent from Woriayur, said, “DMS must allow parents to edit the online application submitted from April 22. Many parents could not opt for CBSE schools despite wishing to as the schools were not featuring in the portal,” he said.