Patna, April 3: The zeal of returning to school for a new session is as good as the high after a World Cup victory.

Most of the city schools are reopening on Monday and the students are ready for a new year. Joining them will be new friends — many of the schools have admitted underprivileged children under the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act according to which education institutions are supposed to reserve 25 per cent of the seats for children from the economically weaker backgrounds.

Under the act, all schools have to reserve 25 per cent seats in Nursery or Class I for underprivileged children and several city schools have completed the admission procedure.

While Patna Central School, St Michael’s High School, Sudarshan Central School, St Joseph’s Convent High School, Baldwin Academy and schools under the DAV group are reopening on Monday, April 4, Don Bosco Academy and Loyola High School have already started new sessions from March 26 and 28 respectively.

Principal of Patna Central School S.P. Singh said: “We have admitted 40 children under the RTE provisions for 25 per cent reservations. Among the 40 students admitted, 20 are girls. The students were selected through random selection that was conducted by and in front of the parents.”

Under the RTE provisions, schools that receive several applications for admission of underprivileged children have to conduct lottery to select students.

Radiant International School that will reopen on April 7 has also completed the admission process. Vice-principal Radhika K. said: “We have admitted 17 students, out of which eight are girls, under the RTE provisions. We conducted the admission process on the first-come-first-served basis. Of the 17 students, 12 are from the OBC category, three are from below poverty line families and two are from the SC category.”

Rahul, a Class VII student of St Michael’s High School, is very excited to start a new academic session. He said: “It is fun to be promoted to a new class. I love new class and new books and new teachers. I look forward to Monday.”

Isha, a Class VI student of St Joseph’s Convent High School, said: “My friends and I are very excited about the new session. We will meet each other after so many days. New teachers and a new syllabus await us and we look forward to having fun on campus again.”