Over 1 lakh 6000 children in Madhya Pradesh secure free admission to private schools of their choice; online lottery process conducted under RTE
On Thursday, the School Education Centre conducted an online lottery under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in Madhya Pradesh, through which 1,06,051 children were granted admission to the private schools of their specific choice. Of these, 91,543 children secured admission in the schools they had listed as their first preference. To ensure the transparency of the lottery process, the State Education Centre also broadcast it live.
Harjinder Singh, Director of the State Education Centre, clicked the button to initiate the online lottery for the free admission of children belonging to disadvantaged groups and weaker sections into the entry-level classes of private schools under the RTE Act. The entire process was broadcast live on the State Education Centre's YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/live/ffjjYeJU3vo?feature=share.
Director Singh stated that Madhya Pradesh is a leading state in the country to have adopted an online lottery system under the RTE Act. This transparent mechanism ensures that parents are allocated seats—via an online process—for their children to pursue free education in schools located within their respective areas. The Director of the State Education Centre congratulated the children selected in the lottery for being allotted their preferred schools and extended his best wishes for their bright future. Furthermore, he commended the School Education Department and the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation team for successfully establishing this transparent online system.
Admissions Open Until April 15
The Director of the State Education Centre informed that, following the document verification stage for this year's RTE lottery, a total of 1,78,714 children were deemed eligible. Out of this pool, 1,06,051 children have been successfully allotted seats in the schools they had selected. Of these, 54,746 are boys and 51,305 are girls.
Schools were allotted to them on Thursday using a random selection method conducted via an online lottery. Children who have been allotted a school are also being notified via SMS on their registered mobile numbers. These children will be able to visit their allotted schools to complete the admission process between April 3 and April 15. In accordance with the rules, the government will directly transfer the tuition fees for these children to the respective school accounts online.
School Allotment Based on Preference
Through the online lottery, seats for free admission were allotted to 66,219 children in Nursery classes, 31,970 in KG-1, and 7,862 in Class 1 across various private schools. Of these, 91,543 children were allotted their first-preference schools.
During a YouTube Live session, Singh, Director of the State Education Centre, provided information regarding the various categories of children eligible for free admission in private schools. He stated that the highest number of applications—totaling over 1,14,000—were found to be eligible for the lottery process; these applications were submitted by children belonging to various categories of families living below the poverty line.
Remaining Children to Receive an Opportunity in the Second Phase
Children who were not allotted a seat in any school during the first-phase lottery will be granted a second opportunity by the government to seek admission against the school-wise vacant seats that remain. To facilitate this, once the application process for the second phase begins, applicants who had applied in the first phase will be able to enter their preferences for admission based on the vacant seats displayed on the portal.