The Directorate of School Education (Elementary), Punjab, has issued a directive to all unaided private schools in the state, directing them to complete the admission process for children selected under Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, belonging to EWS and disadvantaged group, for the academic session 2026-27 by July 20.
The admissions pertain to seats reserved under the 25 per cent quota earmarked for children belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Groups (DG) in recognised private schools across the state.
According to the guidelines issued to schools, no child selected under the quota can be subjected to any screening process or entrance test, nor can any fee be charged at the time of admission, in strict compliance with RTE norms.
The directive comes after the department declared the results of the centralised online lottery on June 24 on the Punjab RTE admission portal, following document verification of applicants. Selected students and their parents have already been informed through public notices and SMS alerts.
Schools have been asked to log in to the official portal to check the list of candidates allotted to them and update the admission status and remarks against each student once the relevant module is activated.
The department has also linked future financial reimbursement to compliance on the portal, stating that schools will be required to upload data pertaining to attendance, academic progress, grades and report cards of admitted students at the end of the academic year in order to claim dues.
Sources in the department said a programme on the functioning of the admission module is likely to be organised shortly for District Education Officers, Block Primary Education Officers and school authorities to ensure smooth implementation of the process.
For grievance redressal, parents facing difficulties at the school level can submit a written complaint within one week to the concerned District Education Officer (Elementary), who has been designated as the Grievance Redressal Officer.
The directorate has asked officials and school heads to accord top priority to the admission process, warning that any lapse would amount to denying selected children their educational rights guaranteed under the RTE Act.
