LUCKNOW, April 28 -- Despite the April 25 deadline set by the basic education department for 100% admission of children from poor and underprivileged families in private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act for the 2026-27 academic session, only 1,24,545 poor children in the state have secured admission against a total of 195,740 allocated seats so far-63.6% of the target, according to department data. It remains a concern that several districts have not taken interest in pressuring private schools to open their gates for poor children to whom seats were allocated after they were found eligible for admission under the RTE Act. Kanpur city leads the table where 9,650 kids were allocated seats, but only 2,866 have been admitted. Lucknow stands second on the list but the district helped 11,552 poor kids secure admission in private schools-the highest by any district-out of 16,784 total allotments. ADM Jyoti Kiran said, "Soon there will be a meeting with schools and we will try to convince them to enrol poor kids who were allocated seats. Action will follow if they still deny admission." In Moradabad, out of 7,124 allotted seats only 3,246 poor kids got admission and requests of another 3,878 students were not entertained by private schools. In Ghaziabad, of 6,083 allotted seats, 2,209 children were given admission and 3,874 kids were waiting for their turn. In Varanasi too, out of 8,625 allotments only 5,325 got admissions as the fate of 3,300 students hangs in the balance because private schools refused to admit them. On April 22, the government took into account the fact that against 195,740 allocations made under the RTE Act, only 108,866 children had been admitted by then. By April 26, following the government's strict approach, another 15,679 poor children secured admission in different private schools, a spokesperson said....