This year, over 9.5 lakh seats will be available in 75,000 schools in the state under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The considerable jump from last year coes in the wake of a recent amendment to RTE implementation rule in Maharashtra, which has brought all government and aided schools under the RTE admission ambit, which was until now only for self-financed schools. As per amended rules of implementation of RTE in the state in February, private schools within a one-kilometre vicinity of a government or aided school in Maharashtra will not be obligated to provide admissions under RTE quota, which until now comprised 25 per cent of seats in self-financed and private schools for students from economically backward sections of the society. With RTE admissions diverted to the government-run and aided schools, there is a huge increase in the number of schools participating in RTE admissions this year. There are over 75,000 schools registered for RTE admissions, as opposed to around 8,800 schools last year, when RTE admissions were intended to admit children from economically weaker sections to self-financed schools alone.

Source-IndianExpress