Private schools flooded with applications; 50% received after govt move to increase income limit

“Several cases came to our notice where genuine beneficiaries could not avail this scheme as many would get their income certificates even if they were not eligible under it. This left many children deprived. Also, while all other schemes have set an income limit of Rs 6 lakh, this was the only scheme where it was different or less,” Minister of State for Education, Praful Pansheriya, told The Indian Express.

On March 15, for the admission for academic session 2025-26, Pansheriya announced an increase in the income limit for admission under the RTE Act to Rs 6 lakh per annum from Rs 1.5 lakh per annum for beneficiaries — the new limit being applicable for both rural and urban sectors.

Earlier, since RTE Act’s 25 per cent reservation rule was implemented in Gujarat in 2013-14 (three years after the implementation of the Act), the income criteria of parents from cities was Rs 1.5 lakh per annum and it was Rs 1.2 lakh per annum for rural areas. Introduced in phases from the academic session 2013-14, the government had roped in eight municipal corporations and reserved 5,300 seats for children from economically weaker sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups.

The state government has now extended the deadline for applications from March 16 to April 15. Both children with parents with an annual income of Rs 6 lakh or less as well as applicants from other categories, who could not apply earlier for any reason, will be able to apply during this period.

For the academic session 2025-26, a total of 93,527 seats are available across the state — 33 districts and seven cities. Among them, the highest number of seats are in Surat city (15239) followed by Ahmedabad city (14778), Vadodara city (4846), Rajkot city (4445) and Surat rural (3913).

“It is worth mentioning that eligible children, who have completed six years on June 1, 2025, have the opportunity to apply online on the RTE portal till April 15. In addition, applicants from other categories and those who could not apply earlier as well as applicants whose applications were rejected at the district level due to income higher than the specified income (but less than Rs 6 lakh) this year will also be able to apply online again. They will be able to apply during this period. The process of approving or rejecting the application after verifying the income limit and other necessary documents of all applicants at the district level will have to be completed by April 16 (Wednesday)” the announcement stated

In 2024-25, private schools in Gujarat admitted nearly 40,000 students under the RTE Act. For the 2024-25 academic year, 45,000 seats were available in self-financed schools across the state under the Act. In all, 2.35 lakh students had applied for the 45,000 seats available under the Act, which stipulates each school to reserve 25 per cent of its seats for the EWS.