Delhi: 105 schools directed to put nursery admission on hold

Around 105 schools in Delhi has been directed to put on hold their nursery admission process as they failed to make their criteria public within the prescribed deadline. The Directorate of Education (DoE) has advised parents not to approach these schools till the department issued further orders to avoid any inconvenience to them in case any penal action is initiated against the schools.

“In order to maintain transparency and uniformity in admission, the admission process of these 105 schools at entry level for session 2019-20 shall be on hold till further orders,” a senior DoE official said. “If it is found that the said schools are conducting admissions despite being prevented to do so, necessary action as per norms will be taken without any further notice,” the official added.

The distance of student’s residence from the school, sibling quota, parents being alumni of the school, single child, first child are some of the criteria listed by schools for nursery admissions. According to the schedule released by the DoE for nursery class admission for 2019-20 session, the application window will be open from Saturday to January 7. The first list of selected children along with marks secured by them will be released on February 4. The second list will be out on February 21 and the nursery admission process will conclude on March 31.

Twenty-five per cent of seats in pre-school, pre-primary and class 1 will be reserved for economically weaker sections/disadvantaged groups. The directorate had instructed all private schools to upload their criteria — with points for each — for admission in general seats on its official website by December 14.

There is, however, no clarity yet on the schedule of EWS admissions. The government has also set an upper age limit of less than four years to be eligible for nursery admission; less than five years for kindergarten; and less than six years for admission to Class 1, reported PTI.

The proposal for increasing the upper age limit was challenged in the court last year. Though a Delhi High Court order last year had allowed the imposition of the upper age limit, the DoE had decided that the order would be applicable only from the 2019 academic session. Apart from the abolished criteria, the schools have been given autonomy to come up with their own points system.

News Source (Indian Express)