
Karnataka RTE admissions in private schools drop by 98% since 2019: Report
Karnataka's implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act has seen a drastic decline in compliance since 2019, with entry-level admissions dropping by 98.87 per cent from 1,16,273 in 2018-19 to just 1,312 in 2023-24, according to a report by Indus Action, a New-Delhi based policy implementation organisation.
In recent years, this figure has remained low, hovering just over 1,500 annually, placing Karnataka significantly behind other South Indian states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in ensuring educational access for disadvantaged children. From 1.16 lakh in 2018-19, the number dropped to 1,795 in 2019-20, 1,713 in 2020-21, and 1,412 in 2021-22, before rising slightly to 1,512 in 2022-23.
The decline in RTE admissions coincides with a 2019 amendment to Karnataka's RTE rules, specifically Rule 4, which exempts private unaided schools from admitting RTE quota students if a government or aided school exists in the locality. According to the Indus Action report, this policy change led to a 98 per cent reduction in participating private schools, from 12,165 in 2018-19 to 221 by 2020-21. The report also showed that in Bengaluru, no private schools are covered under the RTE quota for the 2024-25 academic year, effectively barring disadvantaged students from accessing private education in the city.
In contrast, Tamil Nadu has maintained robust RTE compliance, with 56,166 to 74,283 admissions annually between 2019 and 2022, supported by over 8,200 participating private schools – approximately 40 times Karnataka's recent figures. Andhra Pradesh, despite delaying RTE implementation until 2022-23, recorded 28,998 admissions in its first full year, with 9,607 private schools participating by 2024-25, surpassing Karnataka's numbers by over 43 times. Telangana is set to begin RTE implementation in 2025-26, while Kerala has opted out of the RTE admission provisions.
Despite the sharp decline in admissions and participating schools, Karnataka has maintained annual RTE reimbursement funding at approximately Rs 200 crore from 2019-20 to 2024-25, with a slight dip to Rs 191.81 crore in 2022-23. 'This indicates that while financial commitments remain, the policy shift has severely restricted new admissions, denying an estimated 1.2 lakh children annually access to private school education under the RTE Act,' said Tarun Cherukuri, Founder and CEO, Indus Action.
He added, 'Research demonstrates that RTE's benefits extend beyond individual students to create more inclusive learning environments that benefit all children. Parents of RTE beneficiaries have reported significant positive outcomes, including access to English-medium education, greater participation in extracurricular activities, and notably increased confidence in their children.'
Cherukuri also recommended, 'Karnataka government should urgently reconsider its approach to RTE implementation by revoking Rule 4 to restore the original intent and scope of RTE Section 12(1)(c); reopen approximately 12,000 private schools to disadvantaged students, extending RTE provisions to grades 9 and 10 and allow students to complete their education in the same school which will potentially benefit up to 1.2 lakh children annually through restored implementation.'
An official from the Department of School Education stated, 'The lack of RTE seats in private schools, particularly in Bengaluru, is due to the amendment. Additionally, parents' preference for better private schools over available government or budget private schools has further reduced admissions.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Govt releases 65 crore for farmers hit by rain in '23, '24
Mumbai: After a prolonged delay the revenue department led by senior BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday released Rs 64.75 crore for farmers affected by heavy rain between June 2023 and Dec 2024. Former MPCC president Nana Patole came down heavily on the state govt for the huge delay in providing financial assistance to the aggrieved farmers. "Crops and houses were damaged between June 2023 and Dec 2024, while the financial assistance has been after a massive delay. Then it was a major natural calamity. Govt must fix the responsibility for the delay," Patole said. From the govt resolution issued on June 12, it appears that most of the district collectors and Divisional Commissioners had submitted a specific report on cost of damage, panchanama and required financial assistance last year between June and Aug, while the assistance was released in June 2025. As per the GR, it is expected that the list of beneficiaries is displayed at the collector office and website of the collectorate. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .


The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
Siddaramaiah cites 1995 law to justify Congress high command's decision to scrap 2015 caste survey
He also said that the socio-economic and educational survey , better known as the caste survey, was over a decade old and needed to be re-enumerated even though his core support base of Backward Classes groups have been pressuring him to release the data. 'Already 10 years are over (and) according to section 11, clause 1 of the Backward Classes Act 1995, it is very clear that after the 10 years (sic) period, a new survey is to be conducted,' Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Thursday. Bengaluru: A day after the Congress tried to mask its decision to scrap the findings of the 2015 caste survey, Karnataka government Thursday cited clauses from the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1995, to justify its high command's directive to do away with the report. 'In 10 years, the population has gone up, socio-economic and educational changes have happened. In the Backward Classes Commission Act, it is clearly mentioned that after 10 years a new survey needs to be undertaken,' he added. He was addressing the media after a special cabinet session was convened in Bengaluru to discuss the caste survey. On Tuesday, the Congress high command tried to find middle ground between Siddaramaiah and members of his cabinet opposed to the decision to release the findings of the 2015 survey. Political analysts and observers ThePrint spoke to suggested this decision reflects the party leadership's careful manoeuvring to reconcile differing–and confrontational–viewpoints within Karnataka, effectively diverting attention from the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede and prevent the Centre from taking credit for initiating the nationwide caste census. Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K.C. Venugopal said Tuesday that the party accepts the 2015 caste survey in principle but also called for re-enumeration. The decision was viewed as a setback to Siddaramaiah who has advocated for long to address the dominant status enjoyed by groups like Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Insistence on conducting the entire exercise again is also perceived as a political maneuver for upstage Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement for a nationwide caste census. Also Read: How redoing Karnataka 'caste census' weakens CM Siddaramaiah without strengthening Shivakumar 'New survey to be conducted in 90 days' In 2015, during his first term as chief minister, Siddaramaiah formed a single-person panel comprising then Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes (KSBCC) chairperson H. Kantharaj, which initiated work on the caste survey on 11 April that year. It completed the survey on 30 May, 2015—having put forth 54 questions to a total of 5.98 crore people or 94.17 percent of the state's population. But the report, which cost roughly Rs 190 crores, was never accepted as political leaders and seers from dominant communities are believed to have pressured the government to shelve it. Siddaramaiah did not accept the findings and the Congress was ousted from power three years later in 2018. He also did not pursue its coalition partner, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), to do the same in 2019. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not want to accept the report since its then chief minister, B.S. Yediyurappa, was leading the agitation to scrap the findings. 'Let H.D. Kumaraswamy, B.Y. Vijayendra and R. Ashoka call for a press conference and announce they are in favour of the earlier caste census. They are making a lot of comments, we will respond to them in the Assembly session. The media must highlight contradictions in the stand of Opposition over caste census. They are trying to politicise it,' Shivakumar said Thursday. In February last year, Siddaramaiah accepted the report but did not open the files until earlier this year. When he did do it, and some of the findings were leaked, protests by so-called dominant communities intensified as the population numbers of these groups were shown to be significantly lower than what was projected earlier. Caste plays a very important role in Karnataka's politics and society. BJP is believed to have the backing of Lingayats while JD(S) depends on the Vokkaligas. The Congress under Siddaramaiah has been backed by AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, Backward Classes and Dalits). Caste trumps party affiliations as Siddaramaiah's own cabinet ministers, including Shivakumar, M.B. Patil, S.S. Mallikarjun, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Eshwar Khandre and several others opposed the release of the report. Siddaramaiah is from the backward Kuruba community and his support base took aim at Shivakumar every time the latter would try to broach the unwritten pact that he would replace the former halfway through the term. Siddaramaiah camp further complicated matters for the party by promoting a narrative that replacing a chief minister from Backward Classes with Shivakumar, who is from a dominant community, could be politically unfavorable. 'Siddaramaiah and Congress used the Backward Classes for their political agenda and then sacrificed the latter. Siddaramaiah claims that he became CM with the support of AHINDA but has today shown that he will cheat the backward classes to remain in power,' R. Raghu Kautilya, president of Karnataka BJP's OBC morcha said Thursday. Shivakumar said the Congress was carrying out the survey again to further its objective of achieving social justice and not for the sake of politics. The state government said the new survey will be completed in 90 days of it being commissioned. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: Karnataka protests 'ban' on its Totapuri mangoes entering AP, Naidu govt says 'rescue your own farmers'


NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Action Against Former Delhi Official Over Irregularities In Educational Infrastructure
New Delhi: Disciplinary proceedings will be held against SR Meena -- a former Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department -- for alleged irregularities in the construction of classrooms under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan during the Aam Aadmi Party government. Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved a proposal from the vigilance department for this. The decision comes after serious irregularities were allegedly identified in the implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, a Central initiative aimed at enhancing educational infrastructure in Delhi, which was allocated Rs. 38.37 crore for the construction of 226 classrooms across various schools. SR Meena is currently serving with CPWD in Amritsar. The misconduct dates back to 2019, but the case against another officer, Krishan Pal. Former AAP ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain were summoned by the Anti-Corruption Branch earlier this week over allegations of financial irregularities of around Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of over 12,000 classrooms and semi-permanent structures in the city's government schools. Officials said investigation revealed several lapses on the part of the PWD, including how the funds were diverted from one school to another - instead of classrooms, halls were being made. The situation escalated when a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court, asking the court to direct the government to hand over possession of six newly built school buildings. The litigation prompted the Chief Secretary to investigate the matter, during which significant irregularities in construction practices and fund management were uncovered.