As TN govt schools shine, RTE sign-ups to private schools dip
The official also noted that 4,37,638 children, from LKG to class 8, benefited from the scheme in 2023-24 and credited the decline in the numbers to the surging enrollment in government-run schools.
CHENNAI: With admissions to the government schools in Tamil Nadu increasing year-on-year basis, the enrollment of students under the Rights to Education (RTE) Act in private schools has decreased during the same period.
The RTE was implemented in the state from the academic year 2013-14, ensuring 25 per cent reservation for students belonging to the weaker sections in all private non-minority self-financing schools at entry-level classes like LKG and class one.
A senior School Education Department official quoted the statistics, under the condition of anonymity, that the number of students who enrolled under the RTE was 74,296 in the 2022-23 academic year, "However, it declined to 70,452 in 2023-24."
The official also noted that 4,37,638 children, from LKG to class 8, benefited from the scheme in 2023-24 and credited the decline in the numbers to the surging enrollment in government-run schools.
The student enrollment for the coming academic year has already begun. It has surpassed the 1.60 lakh count and is touted to reach two lakh before the year commences. Noting this trend, he said the RTE enrollment might dip further in proportion to the sign-up in government schools.
"This dip is no reason to be deterred as the RTE scheme will continue and be in place to help children from weak economic backgrounds to access education in private schools," the official said.
Per the School Education Department, in 2013-14, the number of students admitted through RTE was 49,864. In 2015-16, the enrollment rose to 94,811 and peaked in 2016-17, when a total of 97,506 students were admitted to private schools.
