RTE applicants can modify applications to include schools in 3km radius, deadline extended to March 25

Nashik: The state education department on Tuesday urged applicants seeking RTE admissions for their children to update their forms and select schools located within a 3km radius of their homes, replacing the earlier 1km limit that has now been withdrawn.A senior official from the Nashik Zilla Parishad's education department said, "Govt has restored the earlier 3km limit for selecting private unaided schools, replacing the recently introduced 1km restriction. The deadline for completing the online application process has also been extended to March 25."The revision follows the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court's stay on Maharashtra govt's Feb 12 decision that had restricted RTE admissions to schools located within 1km. The stay had left both parents and officials uncertain, especially with the earlier deadline of March 18 approaching and no clarity from the department."Now the process has been updated. Applicants must click ‘unconfirm' in their applications, after which they will be routed to the block education officer (BEO) for rural areas and the administrative officer in municipal corporations," the official said.Under RTE, 25% of seats in private unaided schools are reserved for children from disadvantaged groups living near the schools, with the government covering their tuition fees. "Officers too will ‘unconfirm' applications at their end, enabling parents to modify their school preferences within the permitted distance. The procedure is quick and parents may contact their respective offices for faster processing if needed," the official said.So far, Nashik division, comprising Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Ahilyanagar districts, has received 30,619 applications for 14,482 seats available across 1,136 schools.In Nashik district alone, 12,910 applications have been filed for 5,673 seats in 394 schools. Ahilyanagar has received 6,689 applications for 3,765 seats in 348 schools. Jalgaon recorded 7,505 applications for 3,379 seats in 253 schools, while Dhule saw 2,805 applications for 1,307 seats in 99 schools. In Nandurbar, 710 applications have been submitted for 358 seats in 42 schools.