Delhi: Some schools say plan to link proximity and admission impractical

The Delhi government’s plan to ask schools to admit all those students who live close to the institute first may run into trouble with some schools calling the move “impractical”.

According to them, the move will lead to chaos and unfair distribution of students. The government, however, said it is only making sure schools follow promises they made at the time of getting land at discounted rates.

There are close to 1,700 private schools in Delhi. Of these, 410 got land at discounted rates from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). For 285 of these 410 schools, DDA had laid down the condition in their allotment letters that they would first admit students from their neighbourhood and then others.

The Supreme Court, in 2004, had asked schools to follow the agreement but it is yet to be implemented. A petition brought this to the notice of the Delhi High Court, which asked the Delhi government for its opinion. The government said the condition laid down in the allotment letters will have to be followed, thus telling these 285 schools that neighbourhood will be the first admission criteria for them.

School managements and principals, however, have said the move is problematic. “This move will only create confusion as a few schools will be forced to follow this directive, while the others will be free to create their own nursery admission criteria,” said the principal of a prominent private school.

Others pointed out that some schools might have problems filling up seats since these are not located in residential areas. “For schools such as Modern School, Barakhamba, where will you get students in the middle of a commercial area? We want to meet government representatives and discuss these issues. We want an amicable solution,” said S K Bhattacharya, chairperson, Action Committee for Unaided Recognised Schools in Delhi.

The government has called a meeting of stakeholders Monday.

http://indianexpress.com/article/education/delhi-some-schools-say-plan-to-link-proximity-and-admission-impractical-4407790/