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Admission to schools only through lottery from next year
Shreya Bhandary
Mumbai: Admissions to schools are
bound to see major changes in the next academic year. The most striking of
them is that no school will be allowed to put students or parents through
any form of screening at the time of admissions. Seats at the entry level,
reservation or open category will be allotted on the basis of random
selection with the help of a lottery or a draw.
The schools caught flouting the
rule will be fined up to Rs 50,000.
The move comes after the state education department
held a 2-day workshop in consultation with Unicef, especially on the
implementation of the RTE.
Schools
protest screening ban
Mumbai: “‘No screening during admissions’ has been a rule
in our state for many years, but schools were not following it. Now, with
the backing of the central government and the Right to Education (RTE) Act,
schools have no choice but to oblige,” said Sanjay Deshmukh, director of
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on Tuesday.
Deshmukh added that schools will
also not be allowed to charge capitation fees at the time of admissions or
during the academic course. Those found guilty of charging capitation fees
will be fined 10 times the amount.
The state education department also plans to start
advertizing the 25% reservation quota available in private schools through
local newspapers as well as radio. “We realized that radio is the most
powerful tool to reach out to the masses, especially in rural parts of the state.
Jingles will be played to attract the attention of listeners,” said
Deshmukh.
Schools, though, didn’t sound happy about the
latest diktat. “Screening procedures conducted by schools are not as
scary as the education department makes them sound. It is a way to interact
with students as well as parents. But now we have no choice but to follow
the rule,” said a school principal.
Meanwhile, the upgraded version of Maharashtra
Prathamik Shikshan Parishad (MPSP) website is ready to be launched by August.
It gives access to information about RTE, school-mapping, enrolment of
students, infrastructure of schools across the state and so on. “The main
purpose was to make information available in public domain and reduce RTI
queries. Tracking schools will be very easy,” said Deshmukh.
NEW
RULEBOOK FROM NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR
Admissions
to all schools across the state will be based on a lottery or a draw Fine:
Those caught screening students or parents must pay up to 25,000 first time
and 50,000 for repeat offence Schools cannot charge capitation fees Fine:
Ten times the amount
Admission forms for students under the 25% reservation quota will be
free
State education department will prescribe an admission schedule. Schools
must stick to it
Schools have to reaffirm their recognition with the state education
department within the next month. Those who fail to do so will face
de-recognition
No capitation fees at colleges
On
Tuesday, the state's higher and technical education department issued a circular
asking all colleges affiliated to universities in the state to not charge
the capitation fee in accordance with ‘Prohibition of Capitation Fee Act
1987’. It stated that charging capitation fees is a crime.
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