The new academic year started on Monday, and most kids were seen flocking to their schools, however, some kids were with their parents at the BMC’s education office in Dadar (East) to complain against schools that have refused to confirm their admission.
Some parents of RTE applicants claim that schools are not allowing the admission of their students, claiming they have not received any information.
While the education department insists that every student who had applied for schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act’s 25 per cent reservation quota has been allotted seats, some parents claim otherwise. Pallavi Jha (name changed) was happy when her son was given a seat in Queens Mary High School in Malad.
However, she claims that the school has denied his admission. “I have been running from pillar to post to get my son admitted, but there is very little help coming from the school or the BMC authorities. I hope that my son doesn’t lose a year,” she said.
Similar was the case with Rana Sonaran, who was waiting outside the education office with his grandson, who has been denied admission by Pawar Public School in Bhandup. “We were allotted seats through the online process, and now the schools are denying the admission.
Officials at BMC have asked me to submit the documents at the school again, but there is no concrete help coming from anyone,” he said, adding, that they will now ask the school to provide in writing why they have denied admission to his grandson.
The forum of Fairness in Education has also received a complaint from a parent, stating that the authorities of Cumballa Hill High School have refused to confirm his son’s admission to Junior KG. “I have been told that the entry level class for their school is Std I and therefore my son is not eligible for a seat in Junior KG.
I explained to them that he was allotted a seat through the RTE process, but they refuse to budge,” explained the father. Moreover, the father claims that the officials not only denied his son’s admission, but also demoralised him for trying to get his son admitted through free seats.
The other side
Speaking to mid-day, the school headmistress of Cumballa Hill High School, Joshna Duarte, said that she did not demoralise the parent, “We only explained to them that our school’s entry level is from Std I and kindergarten is not handled by the school management.” She added that if the parent decides to come back, they would consider the child’s admission to kindergarten since only one student was allotted a seat in their school via the RTE process.
BMC speak
BMC education officer Shambhavi Jogi stated that unless parents have not provided the requisite documents, no school could deny them an admission. “If a school denies admission without a valid reason, we will take strict action; they will face trouble in the next year’s admission,” she stated, adding that every school, on humanitarian grounds, school accept admission of children under the RTE quota.
