Navi Mumbai: The future of hundreds of children in Panvel Taluka is at stake as their admission to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) quota has been put on hold. The reason behind this is that the caste and income certificates of these students were generated after March 15, 2023.
A government resolution (GR) issued in the last week of February mandated that these two documents must have been generated before March 15, 2023, for applying for admission in private schools under the RTE quota.
Parents shocked after receiving call from schools
Approximately 250 parents were left shocked when they received phone calls from schools informing them that some of their documents were missing and they needed to contact the education department. Sachin Mhatre, one of the parents, stated that the caste certificate required for admission should have been generated before March 15. The online application process for the Right to Education (RTE) started on March 15 and concluded on March 25. Similar to previous years, many parents generated their caste and income certificates after applying online. Mhatre said, "We had no idea that a caste certificate must be generated before applying for admission. The education department mentioned that the government resolution (GR) was issued in the last week of February, but we were not informed about it." Mhatre's daughter's name appeared for admission.
Kiran Patil, a social activist from Kharghar, shared that a large number of parents approached him after being denied admission due to issues with their documents. Patil said, "The education officer is willing to listen. A person's income can change over time, but caste remains the same. How can they ask for the latest caste certificate?" He added that similar problems arose in other districts such as Palghar, Thane, and Pen in Raigad, but admission was granted to children in those cases.
Currently, for admission to private schools under the RTE, students from the general category must fall under the lower income group or belong to SC/ST/OBC.
Even Panvel MLA Prashant Thakur failed to convince the education officer and wrote to State Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar to address the difficulties faced by students. Thakur suggested, "Since the new clause has been introduced for the first time, parents should be given some relaxation."
The Block Education Officer of Panvel Taluka, Sitaram Mohite, did not respond to a phone call and text message sent to him.
