Comment

Comment by Amar on February 12, 2013 at 6:18pm

@Umesh: I differ on that one. The definition of "good" is subjective. I have my own view of a good school, which could be the exact opposite of someone else's definition. If i find a school "good" and the school is willing to provide transport to my residence, then there shouldn't be a discrimination based on that. So if we are to have a new system, then either the school should take students upto a certain distance, based on whether it provides transport there. But it shouldn't be like 20 points for less than a km, 10 for 1-5 Km and so on

Comment by Umesh on February 12, 2013 at 6:08pm

@Vikas Gakhar - even though Mr. Agarwal's PIL is so well reasoned, I am so surprised that the Hon'able High Court is still confused about whether RTE applies to nursery admissions or not.

If the government says "No, RTE doesn't apply to nursery admissions" does it then mean that the PIL would be quashed? 

Cannot the Hon'able High Court arrive at this decision itself? 

Comment by Umesh on February 12, 2013 at 6:01pm

@Moreshwar @Amar - Moreshwar has a valid point as well. He's only saying there are only so many seats in the 'good' schools. I personally believe there aren't more than 3 to 4 k seats in good schools throughout Delhi and more than half of these seats are in the South Delhi area.

The only way out is having more schools, focusing on development of private schools (yes, government can play a role here), and developing government schools as well. 

Comment by Umesh on February 12, 2013 at 5:52pm

@Amar - totally agree with you. 

Comment by Vikas gakhar on February 12, 2013 at 5:47pm

Delhi nursery admissions: Govt keeps HC waiting for opinion on RTE
by Pallavi Polanki Feb 12, 2013

New Delhi: The suspense over the Delhi High Court judgment on nursery admissions continued into the second week with the Centre continuing to dither on making its stand clear on whether the Right to Education (RTE) Act applies to nursery or pre-school.

After a marathon hearing of final arguments, the High Court had reserved its judgment on 30 January.

While the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor had in a recent media interview said that the RTE Act did not apply to nursery admissions, the Centre is yet to inform the High Court of its stand on the scope of the RTE Act, forcing the court to call a hearing.

Apologising for holding up the judgment, the government counsel told the court that as of yesterday (11 February) the opinion of the law ministry had been sought and requested the court to grant it time till tomorrow (13 February to submit its response.

Reuters
Expressing its keenness to know where the government stands, the court said, “Without the stand of the government we can issue the judgment. But we don’t want to do that. We want to know what the definite stand of the government is.”

The High Court is hearing a writ petition filed by NGO Social Jurist that has challenged notifications issued by the Centre and the Delhi Government that allowed private unaided schools to come up with their own criteria for nursery admissions. The result – where schools allot points to categories such as sibling and alumni and admit students based on the points they earn – the petition states is a violation of the RTE Act which prohibits any sort of screening procedure that discriminates between children.

However, the RTE Act’s definition of a child as being 6 to 14 years has revived the question of the scope of the Act and its applicability to nursery where children are below 6 years.

Seeking the government’s clarification on what regulates nursery admissions in the event that the RTE Act does not apply to it, the court said, “Suppose we take the stand that the Act does not apply to nursery or pre-school, then how are you going to regulate nursery admissions? We have been informed that here in Delhi all admissions are made at nursery stage and admission to class 1 is automatic. If that interpretation is given, then what will happen? Then all this screening procedure, capitation fee, cannot be implemented at class 1 admission. Therefore, naturally, those provisions cannot be implemented at all.” (The court presumably referring to provisions in the RTE Act that prohibits screening procedures.)

Ashok Agarwal, advocate representing Social Jurist, makes the case that if “pre-primary classes are not covered by the provisions of the RTE Act, it would lead to an anomalous situation where children are admitted in pre-primary classes by subjecting them to a screening procedure and thereafter promoting them to higher classes. A six-year old child so promoted to Class I would have already been screened at the pre-primary level and, therefore, the prohibition contained in Section 13 of the Act against screening would completely lose its meaning.”

Giving the government one more day, the Court has asked it to respond on two specific questions: Whether the Act is applicable to nursery school? And two, if it is not applicable, what is the procedure to be followed for nursery admissions?

http://www.firstpost.com/delhi/delhi-nursery-admissions-state-keeps...

Comment by Amar on February 12, 2013 at 5:13pm

@moreshwar: I think i'm misunderstood. I am debating against the priority of neighbourhood as criterion over any other criterion. If a school is able to provide transport upto a certain distance and the parent feels comfortable with that option, he should be allowed that option. I agree that its best if a school you prefer is in the "neighbourhood", but if it isn't, the parent should have an equal opportunity for trying to get admission into a school of his preference ( i.e. if the school provides transport)

Comment by Moreshwar Salpekar on February 12, 2013 at 5:02pm

@Amar: i understand your concern. i have almost same concern and how you take it is up to you. i could not get my kid to MIS, DPS RKP, DPS MR. i am not resigned that my kid cant get to best school, can you tell me how many schools are to your expectation in delhi and how many of them you can get your child into and how many children can be taken by these schools? everyone cannot get into expected schools. some can some cannot. what would be fairest process to decide? interview of 3 year old for this? i think each school should improve. after all best schools did not become best schools in one day

Comment by Amar on February 12, 2013 at 4:45pm

@ekta batra: HC is waiting for the government to respond. Please see the link below

http://www.firstpost.com/delhi/delhi-nursery-admissions-state-keeps...

Comment by ekta batra on February 12, 2013 at 4:39pm

their will not be any tomorrow for HC judgment, We'll have to wait for " THE JUDGMENT DAY" till our kids grow 18 nd they have to fight for admissions in college. I am having all patience for the HC to release fully on us as all east Delhi schools are waiting for HC nd HC is waiting for what????  any body has any idea

Comment by Ankit Agarwal on February 12, 2013 at 4:19pm

Not sure as the draw was still going on when I left.

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