Meerut: The number of students from poor homes who got admission into private schools under the Right to Education ( RTE ) has seen a drastic jump in Meerut district this year. As compared to academic session 2017-18 when 173 students from unprivileged background made it to the elite English schools in the district, as many as 376 students got admission in 2018-19.Under the RTE Act, it is mandatory for private schools to admit 25% students of the total strength from Below Poverty Line (BPL). These students have been admitted in 100 private schools of the district.“As many as 376 BPL children have been admitted in private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) norms. The admissions were conducted in three phases through lucky-draw system. While 72 children were selected in the first round, in the second lottery round, 130 students were picked up. And, in the third lottery round, 129 kids were selected. All these selections were made on the applications received online. However, 45 students were selected from the offline mode,” said Tejendra Singh district coordinator (education) and officer-in-charge RTE.Interestingly, the encouraging numbers also culled the apprehensions that the online mode of admissions will discourage people from unprivileged background from applying for the admission.From 46 in 2016-17 when the process was being done offline, the numbers of BPL students in private school has soared considerable.“The online initiative has not hampered the enrolment at all. It has, in fact, improved the number of student enrollments. The increase in the number of RTE admissions is a sign of increasing awareness among the poor,” said Singh.As part of the RTE Act, 25% of the seats in every private school must be reserved for BPL students. The Act also mandates providing free education to these students. While Rs 5,000 per student is deposited into the bank account of the parent for the child’s uniform, books and stationery, Rs 400 or one month fee of the school-- whichever is less -- is deposited to the school’s account.It should be noted that in 2017, the admission of BPL students under RTE was moved to the online platform, which is free of cost.

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