Many private schools in the Capital have been accused of flouting the nursery admission norms laid down by the Delhi government
“For instance, a private school in Tis Hazari is giving points to parent’s qualifications. The department has made rules stricter and some schools are still flouting the rules,” said Sumit Vohra, founder of admissionsnursery.com, a portal representing the parent community in Delhi, speaking to Mail Today.
The points system is a process where the schools allot points to a child out of 100. The points are based on various criteria including the distance of the child’s residence from school, whether or not a sibling is studying in the school, if a parent is one of the school's alumni, and if the child is a girl.
There are some school-specific criteria too, which the institution is allowed to decide following a high court order earlier this year.
“Schools asking parents to pay Rs 150 for the prospectus which is mandatory, but as per DOE the maximum schools can charge is Rs 25 and picking up the prospectus is optional. Some schools are giving points kids whose parents are graduates, does a child of uneducated parent not have the right to education?” a senior educationist asked.
Under the amended Education Act-1973, that the Delhi government wants to strictly follow, there should not be a points system or a screening interview for nursery admissions. The only criterion that should exist is the neighbourhood criteria, which lets the child go to a school closest to his/her house.
Last week the Delhi government had given autonomy to private schools to declare their guidelines by December 20 and had asked them to display these on their websites and on the display boards.
Since the criteria will be set along the lines of the Ganguly committee recommendations (headed by CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly), most private schools have decided to give the maximum weightage to the neighbourhood criterion.
“The government is however trying to make things easier by bringing in more transparency. The schools have been asked to put all the information online. We are getting calls from parents who are complaining about these minor issues,” added Vohra.
The last date for submitting the application form is January 22. The first list will be displayed on February 15 and the second list will come out on February 29. The entire admission process will get over by March 31.
Schools post nursery criteria
By Tuesday, about half a dozen schools—mostly Christian minority institutions—had declared their admission criteria. Some divided the total seats and allotted them to specific criteria instead of allotting points out of 100.
St George's School, Alaknanda has divided its 200 seats into sets, with only 24 seats for "general category." It has sets for special needs (six), managment (40), Christians (60), siblings (50), alumni (10), children of staff (10) and the rest (24). Distance here is an eligiblity criterion—kids living beyond 8km from schools can't apply.
Queen Mary's School, Tis Hazari allotted a maximum of 25 points to distance, five to kids of government servants, alumni and single parents and five to sibling, 50 to Christians and 2.5 points if one parent is a graduate (five if both are).
Admissionnursery.com's Sumit Vohra argues that points for parents' qualifications amounts to "screening."
Another school says on its website, "Students applying to Grades I-IX must give a test. Those applying to nursery are invited with their parents for an interactive session." Prabhu Dayal Public School, Shalimar Bagh, has made its points sytem public too. It has allotted 30 to 60 points for distance.
"The government should issue helpline numbers and intervene in this admission process else this year will be worst for parents," says Vohra.
