Advocate Pranab Sarkar on admission procedure in schools as per RTE Act

Admission Procedures in Schools as per RTE Act (India)

As per Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, following are the guidelines regarding Application Procedures in Elementary Classes (I to VIII) in Govt./ Govt. Aided/ Govt. Un-Aided Schools for the academic session 2012.

1. Admission of children in school from class – I to VIII will be done through the process of lottery.
2. If the number of candidates seeking for admission in a class exceeds the number of seats, then and only then procedure of lottery will be undertaken.
3. If any Primary School is located in the same premises of an Upper Primary School/ High School/ Higher Secondary School or if a Primary School runs in the same School building of an Upper Primary School/ High School/ Higher Secondary School in the morning, in such cases all the students of IV of the said School Primary should be admitted in class – V of the Upper Primary School/ High School/ Higher Secondary School as the case may be at first. The rest of the seats of Class – V, if there be any, should be filled up through the process of lottery.
4. To fill up the seats meant for unreserved candidates at first a general lottery is to be performed taking into account of all applications for admission irrespective of categories. It is therefore implied that all General, SC, ST, OBC candidates and others will come under the general lottery.
5. After filling up the unreserved seats, separate lotteries are to be done to select category wise (viz. SC/ST/OBC) reserved candidates.
6. It is obligatory on the part of the State Govt. to ensure education of all children up to class VIII free of cost in a neighbourhood school as per provisions of RTE Act, 2009 and Notification issued by the State Govt. in this regard. In case of Kolkata and other in-accessible terrains due to natural barriers, the Primary School should be located within a distance of 1 kM from the neighbourhood of habitable are. For High School it should be less than 1 kM.For other places in West Bengal the aforesaid distance shall not be more than 1 kM in case of Primary School and 2 kM in case of Upper Primary School.
7. In case a child fails to manage his/ her admission in any school through the process of lottery, his/ her guardian will submit petition to the District Inspector of School (PE) if the admission relates to a Primary School. The application is to be submitted to the D.I. of Schools (SE) if admission sought for be from class V to VIII in a Upper Primary/ High/ Higher Secondary School. The concerned DI of Schools on receiving the application shall take immediate step for admission of the child in a suitable school in the neighbourhood. Further the DI should install a help line in his office and dispose of all complaints expeditiously.
8. In case of admission of a child in class – I, he/ she should be 5+ years as on 01.01.2012.