The Delhi Government, finally responding to complaints by parents harassed by private school managements that have been blatantly violating nursery admission guidelines, has warned schools to fall in line or risk ‘strict action’.

The Directorate of Education (DOE) issued a seven-point circular on Saturday (January 12) warning schools against having unreasonable and discriminatory admission criteria as such educational background of parents, arbitrarily fixing upper-age limits, denying admission forms to children from the economically weaker sections (EWS) on the basis of neighbourhood criterion, forcing parents to buy the prospectus of the school, holding parallel admission processes for the primary and pre-schools sections and violating the directive on minimum seats at the entry level. (Read circular here)

But with the circular coming barely two working days before the last of date submission of applications (15 January), the clamour for an extension of the last date is growing.

Still looking for admission. Reuters

Not surprisingly, two days after the circular was issued, there has been no impact on the schools. Parents are complaining that schools are continuing to force them to buy the prospectus and that upper-age limits and unreasonable admission criteria are still being insisted on.

“Parents were happy on Monday morning in the hope that the circular will have an impact. But erring schools have not accepted the mandate of the DOE. The school lobby is very strong. No school has done anything concrete. Not even a single school has removed the admission criteria that is in violation of the guidelines,” says Sumit Vohra, founder admissionsnursery.com.

The point-system based admission process (where admission is based on points allotted to criteria chosen by schools) has been challenged as being in violation of the RTE Act and has been criticized by parents as being discriminatory and arbitrary. (Read full report here)

Arguing for action against erring schools, Vohra says, “Stringent action should be taken against schools who are flouting the guidelines. Unless and until at least one school is de-recognised, no school will make amends.”

According to Vohra, the number of schools flouting RTE guidelines has risen from 10-12 last year to 50 schools this year.

“Our first and foremost demand is for an extension of the last date. The last date has to be extended, otherwise, there will be no point to this circular. The schools will require at least 2-3 days to re-vamp their point-system. And parents should be given another 5-10 days to complete their applications process. And extension alone is not enough. Schools should be forced to implement the circular,” said Vohra.It is the first time since 2007, say activists, that the DOE has issued such a circular warning private schools.

Khagesh Jha, Delhi High Court advocate and a Right to Education activist, said “The circular is a big achievement for parents. But circular by the DOE alone is not sufficient, the government should take strict action against erring schools.”

The impact of the directive on the number of seats at entry level, says Jha, will add to the number of seats by over 50, 000.

“Parents should be given time to apply. To accommodate the additional applications, the last date will have to be extended,” he said.

While EWS applicants are seeing some superficial improvements in the process, worries about how far their applications will make it in the admissions process remain.

“While applications are with the schools, the apprehension is that they remain outside the admission process,” says Thomas Antony of JOSH, a voluntary group that is running an RTE project in a re-settlement colony in an East Delhi neighbourhood.

Parent applying in the EWS category are also seeking more time for applying to schools.

“Even though the DOE clearly states application forms should be available during all working hours of schools, many schools are issuing forms only for an hour. It was only after reports in the media and pressure from the government, the common forms (for EWS applicants) have been uploaded on-line. If parents are given another 15 days, it will be very good,” Anthony said.