The ranks of enrollees from economically weaker sections (EWS) under RTE Admission in Delhi schools went up by about three percent in 2014-15, compares to the previous year, and shows a recent report.

In Delhi, EWS enrollments increased from 41.39% in 2013-14 to about 44.61 % in 2014-15. The admission share under the right to education act’s section 12(1)(c) which requires private unaided schools to admit 25% students from the EWS and disadvantaged categories. However, the report also highlights challenges in implementing the rule.

The objective of the RTE Admission scheme is to ensure that no one from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), including minorities, SCs/STs, women & disabled, is denied access to professional education only for the reason that she or he is poor. The scheme launch from the academic year 2009-10 onwards.

“Most of the states have either unclear rules or guidelines or not implementing this provision. Awareness is a big concern, especially in rural areas. Once children enter the school system, the provision of support and track children is almost non-existent,” said, Ashish Dhawan, founder, and chairman, Central Square Foundation, which brought out ‘State of the Nation: RTE Section 12(1)(c) 2015 (provisional) with its partners. The report suggests ways for better implementation through:

• Clarity on state rules, notifications, and guidelines, especially in areas such as the definition of economically weaker and disadvantaged sections, age criteria and entry-level class, neighborhood criteria, items included free education (uniform, stationary, textbooks, etc.)
• A responsible and operational mechanism to investigate complaints and take actions against defaulting schools, and ensure strict compliance by various stakeholders, among other measures.

According to the MHRD 2014-15 report, a total of 18.49 lakh children’s is studying in private schools under RTE Admission Scheme Section 12(1)(C) during 2014-15. Seven states have started reimbursement of fees to private schools.

RTE Admission Enrollment rate under RTE Sec 12(1)(C), Economically Weaker Section

The RTE Admission enrollment rate for various states have been listed below in which Delhi has highest 44.61%, and Andhra Pradesh has the lowest 0%, enrollment rate. The states among the ‘worst performer’ include Telangana, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. List of state performed quite well includes Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Chattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

State	Percentage	State	Percentage
Delhi	44.61%	Rajasthan	39.26%
Tamilnadu	37.75%	Chattisgarh	32.94%
Uttarakhand	31.96%	Andhra Pradesh	0%
Telangana	0.01%	Mizoram	0.21%
Uttar Pradesh	0.79%	Odisha	0.97%