Gujarat introduces shift wise RTE admission to curb discrimination | Ahmedabad News

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat primary education department has introduced a major reform in the RTE online admission system to prevent discrimination against children admitted under the Right to Education Act. The move follows repeated complaints that several private schools operating in two shifts were assigning RTE-admitted children exclusively to the afternoon shift, while morning shifts were reserved for fee-paying students — an arrangement that caused inconvenience for parents and raised concerns regarding unequal treatment. Under the RTE mandate, private schools must allocate 25% of Class 1 seats to children from economically weaker and disadvantaged backgrounds, offering them free education. However, grievances submitted through the chief minister’s public portal highlighted that shift-based discrimination was undermining the intent of the Act. In response, the state has implemented a technical enhancement in the RTE admission portal. The updated system will now display not only the total number of seats in each school but also the shift-wise distribution of available seats. Parents can choose their preferred shift — morning or afternoon — while submitting applications, ensuring transparency and preventing arbitrary shift allocation by schools.