Private schools in Andhra Pradesh warned against turning down admissions under RTE Act

Samagra Shiksha State Project Director B. Srinivasa Rao on Saturday warned private school managements against rejecting admissions to students selected for free education under Section 12 (1) (c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.

The provision of the Act mandates private unaided schools to set aside 25% of seats in their institutions at the entry level for students belonging to the marginalised sections of society.

In a statement, Mr. Srinivasa Rao instructed the school managements to verify the documents submitted and confirm the admissions accordingly.

“Denial of admission, without any valid reason, will invite departmental action,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao cautioned, and said these admissions would be confirmed through logins specially assigned to the Additional Project Coordinators (APCs) of Samagra Shiksha at the district level.

He said, in case of any queries, the school managements might contact the respective Mandal or District Education Officers, or Regional Joint Directors.

Meanwhile, the deadline for completing the admissions under the Act has been extended from June 28 to July 2, 2025.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said the decision was taken in response to requests by parents and officials.

Second phase of lottery

In the second phase of lottery, a total of 8,583 students had been selected under the RTE quota.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said the parents, or guardians of the students who were allotted seats should visit the respective schools with relevant documents for verification and confirm the admissions by July 2.

The details of selected students were sent via SMS to the registered mobile numbers of the parents. They were also available on the official website: https://cse.ap.gov.in. For further information, the toll-free number 1800 425 8599 could be contacted, he said.

The department initiated the RTE admission process on April 9, in alignment with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) framed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). A State-specific SOP was also developed and communicated to all the DEOs on April 18. To ensure effective monitoring and grievance redress, District Admission Monitoring Committees (DAMCs) were constituted in all the districts.

A total of 9,568 private unaided schools had registered on the RTE portal from April 19 to 30. The application window for eligible students was kept open from May 2 to 19. Out of the total 37,427 applicants, 28,561 opted for school preferences.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao informed that in the first phase of lottery, 23,118 students had been allotted schools and 15,541 of them confirmed and joined their respective schools. He said since the remaining students did not confirm their joining due to various reasons, they were again considered in the second phase.

Seats were allotted to 8,583 eligible students in schools located within the radius of 3 km from the residences of the beneficiaries in the second round of lottery conducted on June 20.

Informing that the district-wise reports for both the phases had been prepared and shared for transparency and public reference, Mr. Srinivasa Rao said the government was committed to ensuring access to quality education for every eligible child under the RTE Act.