A recent High Court hearing, which stated that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) education department must tackle the issue of more than 5,000 seats lying vacant in schools throughout the city, has put school principals in a fix. With the education department yet to issue any official word on the matter and schools on the verge of shutting down for Diwali vacations, the possibility of having to admit new students post vacation is worrisome.

Close to 53,000 RTE seats in schools across the state remain vacant. Pic for representation purposes only