RTE admissions: Round 2 fills 5,814 seats, over 5,400 still vacant

Ahmedabad: The second round of admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act has filled 5,814 additional seats in private schools, but more than 5,400 seats still remain vacant due to a lack of preferences from applicants, officials said on Friday.According to the state education department, 5,431 seats could not be allotted in the second round because eligible applicants had not selected schools in their preference lists. Students who have secured admissions in this round must confirm their seats by June 4, failing which their allotment will stand cancelled.Officials said that after the completion of the first round of admissions, 11,155 seats were left vacant despite 1,08,021 students being eligible under the RTE quota. To improve seat allocation, parents were allowed to revise or update their school preferences between May 25 and May 28.During this period, 62,206 applicants modified their choices, while 45,815 parents chose not to make any changes.Of the total admissions granted, 2,878 students received seats in Gujarati-medium schools, 2,887 in English-medium schools, 38 in Hindi-medium schools, and 11 in schools offering other mediums.English-medium schools accounted for the highest number of unfilled seats at 3,125, followed by 1,576 in Hindi-medium schools, 477 in Gujarati-medium schools, and 193 in other mediums.Authorities have directed parents to submit all required documents at the allotted schools before the deadline to secure admission.This year, more than 83,000 seats were offered under the RTE quota in Gujarat. Of these, over 77,000 seats were filled during the first round itself, officials added.