Guidelines for Admission of EWS/DG Category Children at Entry Level...TOI
EWS admissions: Activists fret over age bar, ‘relief’ to private schools
Krittika Sharma | TNN | Updated: Jan 11, 2018, 06:14 IST
(Representative Image)NEW DELHI: The directorate of education (DoE) has decided to start the admission process for economically weaker sections (EWS) and disadvantaged groups (DG) from January 22.
While the forms for 25% seats reserved in each school can be filled up and submitted online till February 21, the first computerised draw of lots for entry-level classes (nursery, KG and Class I) will be held on March 7. This year, children with HIV have also been included in the DG category.
However, DoE's decision to impose an upper-age limit and allow private schools to report any change in their neighbourhood list have left activists unhappy.
DoE has given private schools four days from January 15 to report "corrections, updates or suggestions" about the residential areas comprising their neighbourhoods. As per the norms, an applicant feeds his area of residence following which a choice of schools in that neighbourhood gets selected. Schools have also not been asked to upload their vacancies online.
Meanwhile, an upper age limit has been imposed on the EWS/DG aspirants, though a similar condition was not implemented for general category students.
Activists have called the notification an example of "a nexus between DoE and the schools", claiming that schools will have an option of getting rid of certain neighbourhoods. "Private schools have gone to courts so many times stating that they don't want EWS students. But now they have the authority to exclude jhuggis from their neighborhood," said Khagesh Jha, a lawyer-activist.
He said that as per the LG's notification on January 7, 2011, parents had the authority to decide their neighbourhood. "Now why are the schools being given that option instead?"
However, senior DoE officials said getting neighbourhood details from five lakh parents would be a cumbersome task, and so the schools have been asked to report to the zonal committees. "We will not allow schools to delete any neighbourhood," an official stressed, adding that around 150 local workers of the department have been teamed up for five zones to take school recommendations. "But they will only listen. Not all suggestions will be accepted."
Slamming the upper-age decision, Jha claimed this would throw even disabled students, who otherwise don't have any age-limit imposition, out of the system.
DoE officials justified the decision, saying anyway all private schools have been informally imposing an upper-age limit even for general students. "DoE has not asked them to put a limit, but to carry on as they have the previous years," said the official. "We had to impose a limit for EWS as last year we had 12-year-old children being admitted to nursery," he added.
While the forms for 25% seats reserved in each school can be filled up and submitted online till February 21, the first computerised draw of lots for entry-level classes (nursery, KG and Class I) will be held on March 7. This year, children with HIV have also been included in the DG category.
However, DoE's decision to impose an upper-age limit and allow private schools to report any change in their neighbourhood list have left activists unhappy.
DoE has given private schools four days from January 15 to report "corrections, updates or suggestions" about the residential areas comprising their neighbourhoods. As per the norms, an applicant feeds his area of residence following which a choice of schools in that neighbourhood gets selected. Schools have also not been asked to upload their vacancies online.
Meanwhile, an upper age limit has been imposed on the EWS/DG aspirants, though a similar condition was not implemented for general category students.
Activists have called the notification an example of "a nexus between DoE and the schools", claiming that schools will have an option of getting rid of certain neighbourhoods. "Private schools have gone to courts so many times stating that they don't want EWS students. But now they have the authority to exclude jhuggis from their neighborhood," said Khagesh Jha, a lawyer-activist.
He said that as per the LG's notification on January 7, 2011, parents had the authority to decide their neighbourhood. "Now why are the schools being given that option instead?"
However, senior DoE officials said getting neighbourhood details from five lakh parents would be a cumbersome task, and so the schools have been asked to report to the zonal committees. "We will not allow schools to delete any neighbourhood," an official stressed, adding that around 150 local workers of the department have been teamed up for five zones to take school recommendations. "But they will only listen. Not all suggestions will be accepted."
Slamming the upper-age decision, Jha claimed this would throw even disabled students, who otherwise don't have any age-limit imposition, out of the system.
DoE officials justified the decision, saying anyway all private schools have been informally imposing an upper-age limit even for general students. "DoE has not asked them to put a limit, but to carry on as they have the previous years," said the official. "We had to impose a limit for EWS as last year we had 12-year-old children being admitted to nursery," he added.
Hindustan 12/13Jan
