Reservation of Seats in Schools for Poor Students

Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides that unaided private schools should admit in class – I (or pre-primary class, as the case may be) to the extent of at least 25% of the strength of the class, children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups. Education in government schools is free and admission is open to all children so there is no reservation of seats in government schools.

Implementation of Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act was carried out by 7 States in 2011-12 and in 2012-13, 13 States have admitted children under the provision. The total enrolment of children in class I in 2011-12 was 29,624,145. However, disaggregated data for children admitted under section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act is not maintained separately.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor in Rajya Sabhanon  23.11.12