Mysore/Mysuru: There is a commonly held belief that private school managements ‘hijack’ seats allocated under the Right To Education (RTE) quota. However, statistics present a contrasting scenario: Every year, thousands of seats designated for disadvantaged groups in the State are left unoccupied. Since 2018, the introduction of amendments to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) by the Karnataka Government has resulted in a shift of priority from private schools to Government schools. Consequently, the admission of children from weaker sections and disadvantaged groups into the reserved 25 percent RTE seats has witnessed a decline.
In Mysuru, out of the 815 seats available under the RTE quota in the academic year 2023-24, not even half of the seats have been filled up. The Department of School Education and Literacy Public Education (DSEL) and the Education Department have finished first round of allocating seats and there has been a lack of response or call it absence of enthusiasm from the parents.
