With the first notification for Delhi nursery admissions round the corner, the government seems all set for a face-off with private schools, as some of them have termed the recent state decisions regarding the admission criteria ‘impractical’. Some have even announced that they will resort to legal recourse, if required.
“The Delhi government is constantly pushing to make ‘distance’ the major criterion for nursery admissions 2017-18, which is seriously unfair, as there are other very important criteria,” said SK Bhattacharya, Chairperson, Action Committee for Private and Unaided Recognised Schools in Delhi.
“We have already sent a memorandum to the Delhi government to make certain changes in their proposed plan. If all fails, we’ll knock on the legal doors,” he said.
On Monday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia held a meeting with private and unaided schools stakeholders and made it clear that they will have to follow the ‘neighbourhood’ criterion for admissions, with minimum distance being 1 kilometre.
“The govt decision will create confusion for schools as well as parents. Some schools are located in highly commercial places. Where will they find students within 1km distance?” Bhattacharya asked.
Some schools pointed out that the government should not neglect other important criteria, such as ‘sibling’, ‘alumni’ and ‘girl child’. “Some parents prefer to enroll their younger children in the same school where the elder ones study. It is naturally convenient for them. The sibling criterion is equally important to consider,” he said.
Other schools are rooting for the ‘girl child’ criterion. “On one hand, the government promotes education for girls and talk about their empowerment. On the other hand, they are snatching away the opportunity for them to come forward and study,” the Chairperson added.
Meanwhile, according to experts, if the schools move the court regarding the nursery admission guidelines, it will be the parents who’ll suffer the most.
