The Union government has sanctioned approximately ₹700 crore under the Right to Education (RTE) Entitlements component under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme following the Supreme Court’s notice. The Centre’s share of ₹362 crore for 2024-25 and ₹352 crore for 2025-26 will be released to the State in two installements.

In light of this, the Tamil Nadu School Education Department on Thursday announced that the State will begin RTE admissions on October 9 for the current academic year. Schools across Tamil Nadu are set to reopen on October 6 after the quarterly holidays.

Under the RTE Act, 25% of seats in entry-level classes, including LKG and Class 1, in private schools must be reserved for students from marginalised sections of society. However, since the Centre had not disbursed funds under the SSA, the State was unable to begin the admission process.

According to a circular issued by the department, admissions under this category for the current academic year will be conducted among children who are already enrolled in the entry-level classes. The particulars will be filled by the principals of the school after identifying and taking written permission from parents to apply for RTE admissions.

Admissions will be conducted through an online process via the department’s official RTE portal. A 10-day online admission window has been scheduled to regularise eligible children who have already been admitted under the RTE quota, the circular added.

Further, any fee already collected from the student must be refunded within seven working days, with confirmation from both the school and the parent, the department directed schools.

Madras HC direction

Earlier this year, the Madras High Court directed the Union government to consider delinking RTE reimbursements from the Samagra Shiksha scheme. After this, the State government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, seeking a binding direction to the Union government to release its share of funds.

A notice was issued by the Supreme Court, following which the funds were released.

Usually, the admissions under the RTE Act usually begin by mid-April and applications are filed on the State government’s online portal. The admissions to the schools end by May.

To oversee the process, a District-level Monitoring Committee, headed by the Chief Educational Officer, has been set up in each district. Schools will upload the total number of seats filled in entry-level class as of September 30, by October 7. By October 14, final list of eligible applicants are displayed on the school notice board.

Parents can access the RTE admissions link at rteadmission@tnschools.gov.in or call the helpline 14417 for further details.